A Soldier's Passion, or Dancing*Dancing*Death

Adaptation & music by Linda Eisenstein; based on the World War I poems of Siegfried Sassoon

SYNOPSIS:

A Brechtian musical revue about war's corrosive effects. The source material reflects World War I, including its parodic music -- mock-Anglican hymns, ragtime, operetta, music-hall -- but the production evokes war images of many periods.

It is based on the work of Sassoon, a British army officer who wrote scathing anti-war poetry from the trenches, and later became Britain's most famous conscientious objector.

REQUIREMENTS: Flexible staging & casting. The production may be minimalist cabaret-style (3m, 3f) or a multimedia work with a large cast (15-20).

  

Photo: Robert Schnellbacher, CPT.

ORCHESTRATIONS: Piano/keyboard; additional instruments optional.

75 minutes. Minimal set.

PRODUCTION HISTORY: Cleveland Public Theatre

 "An 'entertainment' that has real bite -- poems of Siegfried Sassoon about the waste and misery of World War I set to cheerful marches and other upbeat tunes, and sung by a chorus that includes nurses and a couple of wounded soldiers." - Cleveland Plain Dealer

CAST OF CHARACTERS (minimum 3f, 3m):
NARRATOR Baritenor. An older soldier: the one who remembers.
YOUNG SOLDIER Tenor. Very young and beautiful.
MALE SOLOIST Baritone. Comically scabrous.
FEMALE SOLOIST Mezzo.
ENSEMBLE 2-16 additional actor/singers (M & F) playing SOLDIERS, NURSES, PARISHIONERS, CORPSES, PARSONS, DOCTORS, CHURCH CHOIRS, FOLKSINGERS, OFFICERS, PITCHMEN, LADIES, CRIPPLES, RELATIVES, and DEATH.

 "It has a Brechtian grittiness." - Cleveland Plain Dealer

LIST OF MUSICAL NUMBERS:

"Spoken Word" - SONG
 "The Road to Ruin"/COLIN Narrator CD
ASKING FOR IT Female Soloist and Choir CD
 THE MARCH-PAST Corps Commander & Chorus CD
 BASE DETAILS Major CD
 IN THE PINK Young Soldier CD
"Trench Duty" Narrator CD
 SUICIDE IN THE TRENCHES Female Balladeer CD
 "Lest We Forget Memorial Medal" Pitchman CD
 THE HERO Officer, Mother CD
GLORY OF WOMEN Nightclub Singer, Chorus CD, MP3
 THE ROAD Female Soloist CD
 "The Dug-Out" Narrator  
COLIN Young Soldier, Chorus CD
"Repression of War Experience" Narrator
DOES IT MATTER? (LOSING YOUR LEGS) Male Soloist, Chorus CD, MP3
"Survivors" 2 Nurses, Doctor CD
I STOOD WITH THE DEAD Nurse CD, MP3
"Songbooks of the War" Two soldiers CD
 DREAMERS Narrator & Chorus CD

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