Abingdonian 2018

16 The Abingdonian Lent 2018 A Matter of Life and Death A Matter of Life and Death is based on Powell and Pressburger’s 1946 film of the same name, and a stage adaptation made by Emma Rice and Tom Morris for Kneehigh Theatre Company and performed at the National Theatre in 2007. It is best described as a Second World War fairy tale. It follows RAF pilot Peter Carter (played in the film by a dashing David Niven, and in our production by the no less suave figures of Arthur Musson and Archie Gittos) who mysteriously survives after his bomber crashes over the English coast. As he prepares to jump from his stricken plane, he radios his final position to June, an airforce wireless operator (played by the spirited figures of Amelia Wilkinson and Eliza England), and they fall in love with the sound of each other’s voice. After Peter has been washed ashore, he meets June for the first time in classic Hollywood style. However, Peter begins to suffer strange headaches and unsettling visits from the time- stopping heavenly messenger known as ‘Conductor 71’ (played by Molly Pavord) - an angelic figure who’s been sent from the Other World to collect Peter after missing him in the fog over the Channel on the night he was supposed to die. These visits culminate in a trial before the heavenly Court of Appeal to determine whether Carter should live or die. Defending him at the trial is June’s friend, Frank Reeves (whom I played), a village doctor and expert neurologist who diagnoses Peter’s condition but dies in a spectacular motorcycle accident on his way to the hospital to summon an ambulance for Peter. The counsel for the prosecution is the intimidating figure of Jacob Bohl (Samuel King), an American G.I. killed by friendly fire in the disastrous Slapton Sands D-Day training exercise of 1944. Bohl delivers some compelling rhetoric, asking why Peter should be allowed to live when so many with arguably greater claims to life have died. The 1946 film delivered what must have felt like an obligatory happy ending, with Peter and June living happily ever after. However, the Kneehigh version reflected our own less certain age by resolving the trial on the toss of a coin. This meant the ending could change each night based on whether the coin showed heads or tails. We, naturally, followed our own path, offering both endings each night. One Peter survived; the other did not. The key innovation of our production was the double casting of Peter and June, which meant we could give the audience the happy ending they were perhaps expecting but also honour the hard-hitting reality that outcomes are not