Review: 'The Guinea Pig Club'

Kate Bull reviews The Guinea Pig Club, an impressive piece documenting British wartime pride, and commenting on society’s ingrained obsession with appearance.

The Guinea Pig Club, written by Susan Watkins, premiered this week at York Theatre Royal. Based on a true story, the play follows the story of a pioneering plastic surgeon during the Second World War. Archibald McIndoe applied dexterity and care to the burned and crippled bodies of RAF pilots who were wounded in action, and training exercises.

As Dr Ludwig Guttmann refused to give up on his paralysed patients at Stoke Newington, the Sussex town of East Grinstead was populated with wounded pilots who were encouraged to continue to live in the outside world, rather than hide away with (and behind) their battle scars.

Susan Watkins has a close attachment to the subject matter, for she personally knew a member of the self-named ‘Guinea Pig Club’. The sensitive manner in which she dealt with the story deserves congratulation, although the length (three hours including interval) reaffirms the belief that the closer you are to a subject, the harder it is to edit.

Occasionally, the pace seemed to drag, but apart from that the script was light-hearted and humourous. To a certain extent the characters were predictable – the private school boy who’d always longed to be a pilot, the pretty nurse who falls for him; the brusque matron, and the token Yankee are all characters we see perennially in anything war-based.

However, the particular subject matter meant that the actors really had to work to develop well-rounded characters. It is hard to convey feelings and thoughts without the use of your facial muscles, and as some of the actors were masked for the majority of the play they did well to create characters with body language, vocal range and chemistry with each other. In this way, the potential of acting stereotypes was averted, and the characters on stage came across as well-rounded individuals.

Damian Cruden, the current artistic director at the Theatre Royal used the traditional proscenium arch of the theatre to his advantage: creating a tall, RAF base in which the patients were housed. Joanna Scotcher’s stage design echoed well the scary, cold environment of a military hospital which eventually became a place of comfort and sanctuary for ‘Archie’s boys’. Ingenious use of hospital bed curtains and disco balls (not necessarily at the same time) transformed the stage into a ballroom, hotel suite and local pub.

Graham Harley created a sympathetic, well-rounded McIndoe, and his Kiwi accent wasn’t bad either. The revelation of his extra marital affairs, as well as his stubborn personality, made McIndoe very much a human character; Harley performed the role well. Anna O’Grady’s work as nurse Alice Harwood was convincing, although in my opinion, her character was not developed enough for her skills as an actor to be demonstrated.

Richard Jones’ lighting choices complemented the various moods of the play – despair, jubilation, anger. The projections designed and projected against the back wall of the stage anchored the play in its historical context.

One of the most engaging aspects of the entire play was the live music provided by George Ure on cornet and piano. His character, Tom, can only communicate through his ventriloquist’s dummy, but the music he creates is rousing and spine tingling.

The unpolished, proud singing of the patients made startlingly evident the long lasting friendships that these men had created in such traumatic experiences. As they raised their glasses to each other and to their doctor, the audience was exposed to the sense of pride felt by every member of the Club to overcome such debilitating conditions. 

2012 has been an excitable, patriotic year. With the Olympics, Paralympics and Diamond Jubilee, The Guinea Pig Club was well timed to ride the Union Jack wave and it would have had to have done something diabolical to fail. This country’s fascination with The War  – whether through documentaries, plays, interviews and films – continues to draw in the crowds. This play was no gimmick, however, and tells a story that needed to be told very well indeed.  

And you can hear Kate's full audio review in YorWorld here.