Tunes of Glory

Edinburgh Evening News, Thursday November 13 2008

****
Church Hill Theatre

STRONG individual performances, a great set and a fascinating play don't quite add up to all they could in Leitheatre's production of James Kennaway's Tunes of Glory at the Church Hill Theatre.

Set in the officer's mess of an ancient Scottish regiment soon after the end of the Second World War, the play marks the passing of a regime that had been fit for fighting wars, but which has become an anachronism in peacetime.

As the play opens,Acting Lt Colonel Jock Sinclair learns he is to be relieved of command of the regiment after five years. His replacement is Lt Colonel Barrow, better known for his expertise at military academy Sandhurst than his fighting skill.

John Mills is excellent as Sinclair, quite believable as a hard- drinking, hard-living commanding officer who expects much of

his officers but who has earned their trust. As he urges them to keep up with his whisky intake at his farewell party, Mills builds a sense of the camaraderie which would have been invaluable in battle, but is no longer so.

While Derek Blackwood's set provides an excellent feeling of a barracks, a number of superb performances in smaller roles help create the feeling of the different strata of the officers in the mess.

Sam Keefe is spot on as the ever-present waiter, bringing the officers their drinks and providing sly commentary on them in his bearing towards them. Ali May demonstrates the absolute trust of the men in Sinclair as Corporal Fraser, a piper who happens to be in love with Sinclair's daughter.

The two sides of army life are created by Clem Allan as a laconic Pipe Major Maclean, representing the Scottish tradition, and Dougie Arbuckle as a red-faced, square-bashing Sergeant Major Riddick. Their banter provides strong elements of comedy and helps broaden the scope of the production.

The arrival of Barrow puts an end to Sinclair's all-muck-in- together attitudes. Billy Renfrew gives him just enough of the obsessive compulsive to hint that his attention to detail has been tempered with time in a PoW camp.

This sets the two up for a fight in which the outcome can only mean defeat for both. Playing key roles in that fight, Steve McDowall is tight-lipped as Machiavellian Major Scott, Lee Shedden a natural as laid back Major Miller and Alan Richardson consistently faithful as Captain Cairns.

While it is easy to see the different elements which make up the production, the difficulty lies in tying them all together. Too often, scenes show the play's roots in Kennaway's 1960 film adaptation of his own novel.