Far, Far From Ypres – masterful production of one man’s war
Review by Campbell Cameron, Oban FM
‘A horrific story – illustrated by magnificent songs,’ is how Ian McCalman describes Far, Far from Ypres which played the Corran Halls, Oban last week as part of a Highland tour that took the multi-star cast to Portree and Ullapool.
This was the story of Private MacDonald, one man’s war 100 years ago, and has become a passion that McCalman has curated since its inception way back in 2010 when Ian Green of Greentrax records asked if he would become involved in the recording project.
The former McCalman’s Folk Trio leader created the show with a cast of traditional music luminaries for a Greentrax celebration in Edinburgh some years ago.
Well ahead of the current 100-year commemoration of ‘The Great War to end all wars’ and it is now on tour through Scotland.
Radio Scotland legend Iain Anderson is the voice who narrates the story and introduces the songs of the time to illustrate the early jingoistic high-spirited nature of recruitment which quickly turned to horrific reality of battle in the trenches that saw tens of thousands die in the first days.
The story then reflects the growing resignation to the carnage that ensued and the black humour that the troops fell back on. This was well illustrated in the Wipers Times, a trench newspaper produced in dire circumstances and heavily opposed by the top brass, but a vent for the cynicism of the troops and their life in the trenches.
Throughout the show the music is driven by McCalman’s percussive guitar playing and was happy, sad, melancholic, and triumphant at times reflecting all the stages of wartime. The vocals were heart rending and uplifting as the story progressed with Barbara Dixon, Stephen Quigg and Mairi MacInnes among the stars of the show.
But all 25 musicians on stage played their brilliant part in the whole – the chorus was spine tingling. The range of emotions that moving pictures, music and song can create is masterfully delivered and one is left wondering whether we will ever learn.
Our man made it through the hell of war – but he fell to Spanish Flu on his return as the pandemic ranged worldwide killing 50 million people, more than double the war deaths. The unimaginable tragedy is well told in a show that deserves your attention the closer we get to November 2018 and the 100th Armistice day.
Far, Far from Ypres plays Dundee, Stirling, Inverness and Dumfries through October culminating in an Armistice Day showing in Edinburgh’s Usher hall on Sunday November 11.