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Somewhere In England

By Polly Wiseman, Directed by Gari Jones.

Set in 1942 when the Mighty Eighth Air Force were based in East Anglia, the story tells of the relationships between the locals, the land girls and the white & black GI’s.

Joe, played by Nathanael Campbell, is a black engineer who has joined the Armed Forces, but is basically performing the role as a ‘janitor’, whilst Chester, played by Joshua Hayes, is a white law student with a privileged background and is an airman struggling with the peer pressure of how he should act, Ginny, played by Grace Osborn, is a naïve 15 year old local who desperately wants to go to the local Grammar school but is needed to work on the family farm as her father is serving in Italy and befriends Joe  & Viv, played by Georgia Brown, who is from London and is working  as a land girl, she is engaged to a merchant seaman but falls in love with Joe.

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The story shows the interaction between them all and the segregation of the blacks & whites in local bars and villages within the armed forces but the acceptance of the blacks by the locals & the love story of Viv and Joe and the problems this will cause here & in the United States where mixed marriages were against the law in many states and mixed race children were described as ‘mongrels’.

The second half explores the civil rights issues in more depth  with the introduction of Walter White (played by Joshua Hayes) the secretary of NAACP,  WRVS stalwart Lady Stella Reading (played by Georgia Brown) and Lynette (played by Grace Osborn), a campaigning journalist for the Tribune.

To me the acting was all outstanding in particular Grace Osborn performing as a very naïve & sometimes irritating 15 year old contrasting with her role as an educated and well spoken challenging journalist and Nathanael as Joe, his singing is haunting and very thought provoking when he is jailed for an assault & accused of rape.

Somewhere in England is a fascinating & engaging play; the actors bring it to life with a creative use of only a few props. This is a must see play as not only does it have a local connection but it provides a real insight into the racial issues of the times, although it’s a controversial subject I came away feeling that this play is very much worth seeing in it’s own right not just because of the subject.

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The play is at the Sir John Mills Theatre in Ipswich until 30th April, but is then touring across the region until the 4th June.

For more information and to book visit: www.easternangles.co.uk

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