Cast

Synopsis

The Time: 1948

The Place: Various locations in the Malayan jungle

The Subject: A disparate bunch of army personnel brought together to form a concert party. Their task: To entertain the troops in areas which, at that time, were often under attack by communist guerrillas.

The presentation is in the form of a variety show; a pastiche of the musical entertainment of the nineteen forties. Often very funny, poignant and, at times, a little frightening – but great entertainment. Finally, it is about servicemen operating in a dangerous environment and, as you might expect, their vocabulary would not be appreciated at the vicarage tea party!

Directors Notes

Three years after the end of the 1939 – 1945 war, British troops were again in action, this time fighting to stop the Chinese supported communist terrorists taking over the Malayan peninsula. Into this situation Peter Nichols introduces a concert party; brought together to entertain the service personnel in Singapore and later in the jungle where the forward troops are face to face with the terrorists. As with most services’ units the characters, created by the playwright, are very diverse and perhaps best discribed as a very mixed bunch. From the foul mouthed Len, brought up in the slums of Birmingham, to Giles the Commanding Officer; pious, God fearing and to paraphrase the Sergeant Major, “Wouldn’t spot criminal activity if it was under his nose”. So we have eight very different personalities, men from very different backgrounds – plus – one woman, Anglo Indian, dancer, showgirl and well versed in the ways of the world. They combine, with the help of some very tuneful music by Denis King, to provide a splendid evening’s entertainment. Finally, the action of the play is set, as it must be, in 1948. The vocabulary is, as it should be, of that period – thirty years before the new terrorism of political correctness.