With strong performances from the four cast members, A Game Of Soldiers paints a fucking convincing picture of the fucking brutal, fucking humdrum, fucking experiences of fucking army life. (Theres a lot of swearing.) The characters are nicely drawn without resorting to stereotype, but the play suffers when addressing the geo-political aspects of the conflict, with exposition-heavy dialogue which feels out of character. The direction doesn’t always work; the tribal football chants and communal singing are very effective at conveying the characters’ emotions, but the in the round staging means that the more muted, emotional dialogue is lost at times. Overall, this is an honest effort at a difficult subject.

Lauriston Halls, until 23 Aug.
tw rating 3/5 | [Andrew Bell]