The Wipers Times at the Manchester Opera House Review

Reviewed by Nigel Chester

The Wipers Times, as co-writer Ian Hislop tells us, is a stage production one hundred years in the making, when half way through the first world war, a few of the soldiers from the 24th division of the Sherwood Foresters discovered a printing press in the ruins of Ypres.

Being unfamiliar with the pronunciation, the soldiers from the 24th division just went with Wipers and, as these things so often happen, the stars were in alignment and a civvy street printer and a printing press came together with Captain Fred Roberts and Lieutenant Jack Pearson to create a newspaper printed from the front line.

How, I wondered, could a play be entertainment, when the subject matter was a newspaper publication set in the mists of one of the most horrific wars in history; but, entertain it did, the jokes, puns and spoofs that were played out by the fabulous cast, were straight from the pages of the paper. The self-deprecating humour of the British at a time of extreme adversity was funny then and is funny now.

Writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman took fabulous material and, staying true to the concept of the Wipers Times, moulded it into two brilliant hours. The staging was superb, the barbed wire of the trenches, suddenly lit up, the sharp barbs were fairy lights, becoming the stage lighting for what, quite literally, had become the theatre of war. This juxtaposition was a brilliant metaphor for the Wipers Times itself.

Today, we believe we have an understanding of what the First World War was like, this morning however, I realise that it was long periods of boredom, punctuated by sheer terror: and time spent thinking of limericks and rhymes, parody and spoofs gave the men sat in mud the opportunity to laugh.

The play moved us through time and place. We saw the horror of the mustard gas and its terrible effects. We visited the bar of Madame Fifi and were transported back home to blighty. We felt the cold when it snowed.

I wouldn’t describe The Wipers Times as a musical, but music played a large part and under the musical directorship of Paul Herbert, we were privileged to listen to both songs from the trenches and brand new material for the play.

Just like the soldiers of the Sherwood Foresters, many of the cast are young and at the start of their lives, but for such a young cast, they delivered. There were some stand out characters, Dan Mersh took three roles as Sergeant Tyler, the Deputy Editor and, as General Mitford, as Mitford he filled the stage with compassion and understanding whilst being ridiculously middle classed.

The Wipers Times has left me feeling many things, but I am humbled at the tenacity of character of these real men, Captain Roberts and Lieutenant Pearson, both decorated officers, both witty and subversive, whose own families did not know of their full and unique role in the war, until they were approached by the writing duo. So many of the soldiers who came home, never spoke of their roles, however, this play tells the story of so many ordinary soldiers, the generic Tommy Atkins and all the whizz-bangs.

This year I shall wear my poppy with a deeper understanding of the fallen of the First World War and say, “thanks for the laughs lads”.

Highly recommended.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost from £14.40 to £34.90 (plus £4 transaction fee).

The Wipers Times is at the Opera House in Manchester from 31 October to 4 November 2017, for more information or to book tickets visit www.atgtickets.com/operahouse or call the box office on 0844 871 3018.

Opera House, 3 Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3HP | 0844 871 3018