Oh, What a Lovely War! is an epic musical developed by Joan Littlewood and her ensemble at the Theatre Workshop in 1963. It is a satire on World War I, and by extension on war in general. The title is derived from the "somewhat satirical" music hall song "Oh! It's a Lovely War!", which is one of the major numbers in the production.

Development

The idea for the production started on Armistice Day 1962 when Gerry Raffles heard the repeat of the second version of Charles Chilton's radio musical for the BBC Home Service, called The Long Long Trail about World War I. Written and produced by Chilton in memory of his father whose name was inscribed on the memorial at Arras, the piece was a radio documentary that used facts and statistics, juxtaposed with reminiscences and versions of songs of the time, as an ironic critique of the reality of the war. The songs were found in a book published in 1917 called Tommy's Tunes which had new lyrics written in the trenches to well-known songs of the era, many from hymns or from West End shows. Bud Flanagan provided the voice of the "ordinary soldier". The title came from the popular music hall song "There's a Long Long Trail A-Winding" published in 1913, mentioned in the introduction of Tommy's Tunes.

Raffles proposed the idea of using it as the basis of a production to his partner, Joan Littlewood, but she detested the idea, hating World War I, military uniforms, and everything they stood for. The idea was to portray how groups of people could lose their sense of individuality by conforming to those of a higher authority, which Littlewood despised.

The Theatre Workshop developed productions through improvisation and initially the cast would learn the original script but then have that taken away and have to retell the story in their own words for performance. Each member of the Theatre Workshop was tasked with learning about a particular topic, such as Ypres or gas. As the production developed, it also used scenes from The Donkeys by military historian (and future Conservative politician) Alan Clark, initially without acknowledgement: Clark took Littlewood to court to get credited.

The official censor did not grant permission for a transfer to the West End until Princess Margaret attended a performance and commented to the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Cobbold, that "What you've said here tonight should have been said long ago, don't you agree, Lord Cobbold?"; at this point the transfer was more or less assured despite the objections of the family of Field Marshal Haig. It was an ensemble production featuring members of the theatre's regular company, which included Brian Murphy, Victor Spinetti, Glynn Edwards and Larry Dann, all of whom played several roles. In 2023, Dann shared his memories of the production for his autobiography, Oh, What A Lovely Memoir. The sets were designed by John Bury. The production subsequently transferred to Wyndham's Theatre in June of the same year.

From September 2023 until May 2024, a 60th Anniversary production by Blackeyed Theatre toured the UK.

Description

The original production was performed with the cast in pierrot costumes and metal helmets due to Littlewood's abhorrence of the colour khaki The lyrics of the first verse and the chorus are as follows:

Musical numbers

Sequence and casting based on the 1964 Broadway production

Act 1

  • "Row, Row, Row" <small>(lyrics by William Jerome, music by James V. Monaco)</small> – The Ensemble
  • "We Don't Want to Lose You (Your King and Country Want You)" <small>(music and lyrics by Paul Rubens)</small> – The Ladies
  • "Belgium Put the Kibosh on the Kaiser" <small>(music and lyrics by Paddy Ellerton)</small> – Valerie Walsh
  • "Are We Downhearted" – The Men
  • "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" <small>(music and lyrics by Jack Judge and Harry Williams)</small> – The Men
  • "Hold Your Hand Out Naughty Boy" <small>(music and lyrics by Murphy and David)</small> – The Men
  • "I'll Make a Man of You" <small>(music and lyrics by Arthur Wimperis and Herman Finck)</small> – Barbara Windsor
  • "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag" <small>(lyrics by George Asaf)</small> – The Men
  • "Hitchykoo" <small>(lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert, music by Lewis F. Muir and Maurice Abrahams)</small> – Fanny Carby
  • "Heilige Nacht" – Colin Kemball
  • "Good-bye-ee!" <small>(lyrics by R. P. Weston, music by Bert Lee)</small> – Victor Spinetti

Act 2

  • "Oh What a Lovely War" – The Ensemble
  • "Gassed Last Night" – The Men
  • "Roses of Picardy" <small>(music by Haydn Wood)</small> – Linda Loftus and Ian Paterson
  • "Hush Here Comes a Whizzbang" – The Men
  • "There's a Long Long Trail" <small>(lyrics by Stoddard King)</small> – Ian Paterson
  • "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" – The Men
  • "Kaiser Bill" – The Men
  • "They Were Only Playing Leapfrog" – The Men
  • "Old Soldiers Never Die" – Murray Melvin
  • "Far Far from Wipers" <small>(music and lyrics by Bingham and Greene)</small> – Colin Kemball
  • "If the Sergeant Steals Your Rum" – The Men
  • "I Wore a Tunic (When You Wore a Tulip)" – Ian Paterson
  • "Forward Joe Soap's Army" – The Men
  • "Fred Karno's Army" – The Men
  • "When This Lousy War is Over" – Colin Kembal
  • "Wash Me in the Water" – The Men
  • "I Want to Go Home" – The Men
  • "The Bells Of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling" – The Men
  • "Keep the Home Fires Burning" <small>(lyrics by Lena Gulibert Ford, music by Ivor Novello)</small> – Myvanwy Jenn
  • "Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts" <small>(lyrics by R. P. Weston, music by Herman Darewski)</small> – Barbara Windsor
  • "La Chanson de Craonne" – The Ensemble
  • "Don't Want to Be a Soldier" – The Ensemble
  • "And When They Ask Us" <small>(music by Jerome Kern, parody lyric by Cole Porter, after original Kern song "They Didn't Believe Me")</small> – The Ensemble

Adaptation and in culture

Richard Attenborough's film adaptation was released in 1969, also as a musical, and won numerous awards. It was Attenborough's debut as a film director.

Several Australian World War I movies and miniseries (e.g. The Lighthorsemen and Gallipoli) have used these songs to give a stronger sense of period to them. The 1985 series Anzacs used "Oh, it's a lovely war" as one of the numbers while the credits rolled, had "I wore a tunic" performed as part of an entertainment piece while the characters were on easy duties, used "Keep the home fires burning" as another credit number, and featured "The Bells of Hell" sung by Tony Bonner and Andrew Clarke.

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

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! width="5%"| Year

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| rowspan="4" align="center"| 1965

| rowspan="4"| Tony Award

| colspan="2"| Best Musical

|

|-

| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

| Victor Spinetti

|

|-

| Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

| Barbara Windsor

|

|-

| Best Direction of a Musical

| Joan Littlewood

|

|}

2002 London revival

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! width="5%"| Year

! width="20%"| Award

! width="45%"| Category

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| align="center"| 2003

| Laurence Olivier Award

| colspan="2"| Best Musical Revival

|

|}

2010 UK tour

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|-

! width="5%"| Year

! width="20%"| Award

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| align="center"| 2010

| TMA Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Performance in a Musical: Ensemble

|

|}

2014 Stratford revival

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|-

! width="5%"| Year

! width="20%"| Award

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! width="10%"| Result

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| align="center"| 2014

| Laurence Olivier Award

| colspan="2"| Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre

|

|}

See also

  • List of plays with anti-war themes
  • List of anti-war songs

Citations

General and cited references

  • Arthur, Max. 2001. When This Bloody War Is Over: Soldiers' Songs from the First World War. London: Piatkus. .
  • Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
  • Brockett, Oscar G. and Franklin J. Hildy. 2003. History of the Theatre. Ninth edition, International edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. .
  • Eyre, Richard and Nicholas Wright. 2000. Changing Stages: A View of British Theatre in the Twentieth Century. London: Bloomsbury. .
  • Milling, Jane and Peter Thomson, eds. 2004. The Cambridge History of British Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 397–401. .
  • Lyrics from Oh What a Lovely War
  • Oh! Its a Lovely War album series at CD41

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