Oh, What a Lovely War!

''Oh, What a Lovely War!'' is an epic musical developed by Joan Littlewood and her ensemble at the Theatre Workshop in 1963. It is a satire on World War I, and by extension on war in general. The title is derived from the "somewhat satirical" music hall song "Oh! It's a Lovely War!", which is one of the major numbers in the production.

Development

The idea for the production started on Armistice Day 1962 when Gerry Raffles heard the repeat of the second version of Charles Chilton's radio musical for the BBC Home Service, called ''The Long Long Trail'' about World War I. Written and produced by Chilton in memory of his father''The Show to End All Wars'', Simon Russell Beale, BBC Radio 4 2013-09-1

/ref> whose name was inscribed on the Arras Flying Services Memorial, memorial at Arras, the piece was a radio documentary that used facts and statistics, juxtaposed with reminiscences and versions of songs of the time, as an ironic critique of the reality of the war.''The Cambridge History of British Theatre'' pp. 397–401 Jane Milling, Peter Thomson, Joseph W. Donohue (2004 Cambridge University Press)
accessed 19 October 2007 The songs were found in a book published in 1917 called ''Tommy's Tunes'' which had new lyrics written in the trenches to well-known songs of the era, many from hymns or from West End shows. Bud Flanagan provided the voice of the "ordinary soldier". The title came from the popular music hall song " There's a Long Long Trail A-Winding" published in 1913, mentioned in the introduction of ''Tommy's Tunes''.

Raffles proposed the idea of using it as the basis of a production to his partner, Joan Littlewood, but she detested the idea, hating World War I, military uniforms, and everything they stood for. Gerry though, brought Chilton along to the theatre and they played through the songs. Eventually Littlewood considered it might work, but refused any military uniforms, deciding on pierrot costumes from Commedia dell'arte very early on as a "soft, fluffy entertainment mode" providing an ironic contrast to the tin hats which they also wore. Littlewood said, in 1995, that "Nobody died on my stage, they died in the film – that they ruined". She wanted audiences to leave the theatre laughing at the "vulgarity of war". The idea was to portray how groups of people could lose their sense of individuality by conforming to those of a higher authority, which Littlewood despised.

The Theatre Workshop developed productions through improvisation and initially the cast would learn the original script but then have that taken away and have to retell the story in their own words for performance. Each member of the Theatre Workshop was tasked with learning about a particular topic, such as Ypres or gas. As the production developed, it also used scenes from ''The Donkeys'' by military historian (and future Conservative politician) Alan Clark, initially without acknowledgement: Clark took Littlewood to court to get credited.

Some scenes in the production, notably one on the first time the trenches were gassed, were worked on for many days only for Littlewood to conclude they were too horrific for an audience, and delete them. This was another reason why uniforms were not worn in the production.

Productions

The musical premiered at the Theatre Royal Stratford East on 19 March 1963 to rave audience reaction. Kenneth Tynan's review in ''The Observer'' was titled "Littlewood returns in triumph".

The official censor did not grant permission for a transfer to the West End until Princess Margaret attended a performance and commented to the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Cobbold, that "What you've said here tonight should have been said long ago, don't you agree, Lord Cobbold?"; at this point the transfer was more or less assured despite the objections of the family of Field Marshal Haig. It was an ensemble production featuring members of the theatre's regular company, which included Brian Murphy, Victor Spinetti and Glynn Edwards, all of whom played several roles. The sets were designed by John Bury. The production subsequently transferred to Wyndham's Theatre in June of the same year. The production was a surprise hit, and the musical was adapted by the BBC
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