There is a pre-requisite to appreciating Bravo 22 Company’s play Unspoken. It has to be accepted that the cast are not professional actors, that tongues will get caught in teeth, a stutter will appear here and a hesitation there. Some of the slick flow and panache that regular theatre-goers may expect are, I think it fair to say, sacrificed in favour of authenticity. On balance though, this is a good thing. Given the subject matter, the stories and suffering being related, it is right that authenticity should take precedence. In so doing the company have put on a production that is, at times, immensely powerful.

Unspoken tells the stories of those who have served in Her Majesty’s armed forces, focussing mainly though not exclusively, on life after service. It delivers an emotive comprehension of the adjustments that are made by those injured, bereaved, suffering from post-traumatic stress, or simply coming to terms with civilian life after years in a military institution. The authenticity is secured by the fact that the cast are all drawn from the ranks of ex-service personnel.

This play is both tragedy and comedy. There is something unique about military humour. Some of it is, of course, banter and inter-service rivalry (of which the RAF seemed to have come off worst on this occasion). But some of the funniest moments were rooted in the politically incorrect and utterly insensitive dark humour that those who face the worst aspects of humanity employ as a mechanism to help them cope. For example, the double amputee bomb disposal officer who is given the job of being a stand-up comedian. This is simply not funny in the cold light of a civilian’s day, but delivered in the setting of an ex-servicemen’s club, was hilarious.

The dark humour is needed as relief to balance the tragic events faced by many of the characters. But this is not Aristotelian tragedy based on the great fall of the mightiest of men to utter doom. These are ‘real’ men and women, not kings or great nobles. Despite the awful things they recount to us from Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, they are not utterly destroyed by their changes in fortune. They are survivors surviving. Much of the catharsis comes from the audience being able to relate to their altered states, both mental and physical, rather than their ultimate demise.

It was clear from the performances that many of the aims of the production were achieved by the cast and crew. Bravo 22 Company is a “recovery through the arts programme that brings together wounded, injured and sick Service personnel to write, produce and perform their own plays”. The quality of the script was surprisingly good under the circumstances and it was delivered with conviction and confidence. The notable performances, for me, were from Tip Cullen as The Man in the Corner, and Ken Bellringer as The Open Mic Comedian. I don’t think there was a single throat in the audience that did not have a sizable lump in it when Bellringer delivered his monologue.

This is a play that covers a lot of highly relevant topics concerning the everyday heroes that serve our country, from why they sign up, to how they serve, and the impact that service has on their lives and the lives of their families. It is important, moving and at times very funny. I doubt it will win any theatre industry awards, but it will win hearts and minds, and is well worth going to see.

★★★★☆  Robert Gainer   9^th October 2018