REVIEW: Fire Embers Ash by Hailey Mashburn at Barons Court Theatre 16 – 27 January 2024

“for all the thousands of plays and films written and performed by men about war, there are relatively few who have done what this writer has done here.” ★★★★

Natalya Meklin, played by Yvonne Maxwell, steps out of the dark to guide us through this strange, unnerving play about a unique group who formed the first all-female aviation regiment in history. From an almost cheerful countenance at the introduction, her visage is transformed by the events of the war to a frightened and bewildered conclusion. Is this what war does to people?

All too often we are served up a version of events that happen during war-time as something heroic, exciting and, dare I say it, fun. Perhaps more so in film than in theatre a bunch of chaps or band of brothers, call them what you will, strut their way through the war alleviating the fear with witty banter while casually brushing off the enemy. Not so with the play Fire Embers Ash. A brave piece of writing that deals with the most emotional of subjects, killing.

There are few exceptions in film, theatre though, has a history of laying bear the stark realities of life in a more palpable way. Be it in war or peace. Recently I was treated to a gripping version of the X-rated Shakespearean blood bath Titus Andronicus. How many modern productions would be brave enough to show rape, murder, torture, filicide, mutilation and cannibalism in one sitting? And all without glorification and hero worship in a neat little package where the good guys win, the bad guys lose, the hero gets the girl, and we all live happily ever after in a world that is now safer and better than it was before.

Fortunately, thanks to modern media outlets showing us the stark realities, we can see for ourselves that modern warfare is more a case of sitting in a muddy puddle amongst the bombed out ruins of what used to be buildings, starving to death etc. etc. 

And so it is with gratitude that I can say that I was treated to Hailey Mashburn’s “Fire Embers Ash”. This is the tail of what was originally the 588^th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Force during World War Two. Though banned by law at the time, this was a group of female volunteers who flew night bombing missions against the Nazis during the invasion of the Soviet Union.

The true story looks at five characters, each with their own individual way of dealing with the war and their part in it and looks at where some of them came from and where some aspired to go afterwards. Henriette Lausen plays their leader Marina Raskova who actually used her influence to get permission to form the unit.  Lydia, played by Maya Waghorn enjoys the reputation she has for her gruesome task. Maria Masonou as Yevgeniya longs for her childhood dream of being a scientist. And Stephanie Van Driesen as Nadezhda strives to hold the group together after adversities.

All parts are well acted, and atmosphere is created with smoke, strobe lights, torches and spotlights. The action moves well from the airbase to bombing missions and the model of the Polikarpov Po-2 is good enough to convince anybody. However the anachronistic music sounds like something from the 1980s, and was a little too loud but it didn’t last long.

Interestingly, in this play we see the war from the point of view of the ordinary combatant. No Hitler, no Stalin, I don’t think they were even mentioned. No bigger picture to put these people’s actions into context. At last! The war from the stand-point of part of the 99% of the people who took part. And surprise surprise, what do you think happens? Of course, it’s war so people die.

If you have ever taken the time to talk to veterans of any war you may have found that they all share a reluctance to go into any detail about what they experienced. There is no euphemistic way of talking about killing so this play shows that in war death is an inevitability. One survivor Natalya questions why they are doing what none of them want to do in the first place. The only conclusion that this play gives us is Nadezhda’s explanation that they have to continue to justify the deaths of the ones who have already died. Sad as that may seem, I fear it is the reality of many in her position.

Although not on the scale of Elem Klimov’s film the outcome is very similar in this play as it is in “Come and See” and several of Shakespeare’s tragedies, there aren’t many people left by the end. But along the way the fear is constant and the stupidity of war is questioned. It is also extremely poignant that for all the thousands of plays and films written and performed by men about war, there are relatively few that haven’t missed the open goal and done what this writer has done here. War. It is not heroic.

Reviewed by Robert McLanachan

REVIEW: Fire Embers Ash  at Barons Court Theatre 16 – 27 January 2024

Box Office https://www.baronscourttheatre.com/fire-embers-ash

Creatives

Writer: Hailey Mashburn

Directed by: Stephen Smith

Producer: Threedumb Theatre

Composer: Joseph Furey

Cast

Yevgeniya Rudneva: Maria Masonou

Natalya Meklin: Yvonne Maxwell

Nadezhda Popova: Stephanie Van Driesen

Marina Raskova: Henriette Laursen

Lydia Litvyak: Maya Waghorn