All Quiet and Slightly Disappointing on the Western Front

Why does All Quiet on the Western Front feel so stale?

It is a theatrical adaptation of arguably one of the greatest books of the 20th century. Robin Kingsland’s adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic is rather competent in relaying the key characters and moments in fairly interesting ways. It is literate without relying too much on the words and manages to find many ways of bringing complicated scenes to life with limited resources.

One cannot blame the cast. Led by former Eastender James Alexandrou, the company of eight are called upon to do some rather difficult things: react to battle and death, sing anthems and war songs, move scenery and sets and play multiple characters, including women. They all perform commendably, working better as an effective ensemble than being individual characters.

And one cannot blame either the director or the designers. The piece is well staged and cleverly designed. The use of theatrics solves many problems that one finds in creating an adaptation that requires following a company of soldiers through the German trenches of World War One. Who knew that slamming doors and scraping metal would make such great explosions and gunshots?

So why does it not work better? It may be that making a stage version of an epic war novel is asking too much of the medium of theatre. Effective war stories have been done many times before (one only has to think of two words: Black Watch), but this time it feels as if the production has bitten off far more than it can theatrically process. The ambition is there, but it feels as if the novel’s soul didn’t quite make it onstage.

In the end, All Quiet is a noble attempt to make something special but only manages to be adequate at best.