Were You Anyone Before Dad’s Army? by Nicolas Ridley, Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight, 4 August 2024.

4✩✩✩✩ Review: Cormac Richards.

“A joyous production.”

The story of Arnold Ridley is extraordinary. Known to millions from his portrayal of Private Godfrey in the (still) enormously popular TV series ‘Dad’s Army’ and as author of one of the most popular plays in the English language, ‘The Ghost Train’, this new biographical play is engrossing, hilarious, surprising, moving and devastating by turn.

‘Were You Anyone Before Dad’s Army?’ (subtitled, ‘The Missing History of Private Godfrey’) is penned by Arnold Ridley’s son, Nicolas, and the love and care which has been put into such a personal story is worthy of applause on its own. First person storytelling on stage is really tricky to pull off; either it is presented as a monologue or there are short episodes featuring other actors stitched together with narration, which is the structure used here. What is in no doubt at all is that the whole play is almost totally dependent on one central performance. In Theatre Reviva’s production, Arnold is played by Mansel David, who is astonishing – the rich-voiced actor is blessed with a wonderfully mobile face and eyes which express emotions beautifully. He completely inhabits Arnold; he is utterly convincing, engaging the audience from the off and he takes them with him for the whole production. The audience laugh with him, gasp at some of the events which punctuated his life and are moved to tears at the conclusion.

Throughout, a company of actors work tirelessly to play a host of characters; some well-known, such as John Lawrie and David Croft, but mostly figures from Arnold’s past and others imagined  by the writer. Stand-out performances especially come from Hanna Dixon as Arnold’s Mother (amongst other roles) and Ollie Fry who offers up a splendid array of characters which afford him the chance to display his excellent range of accents. All work well together to create extra poignancy to the story; the scene discussing the ‘Dad’s Army’ episode ‘Branded’ and the way in which writers Perry and Croft worked in some of Arnold’s real life into the storyline, is beautifully done.

By no means is this an easy play to stage; a narrated story can be very one-paced and the inter-woven scenes need to provide changes in that pace as well as a slick presentation. It is to the credit of director Graham Pountney that he allows the story to ebb and flow throughout. He also ensures that the storytelling is paramount – despite the vignettes played out, the focus rightly never leaves Arnold.

Maybe the additional furniture could have lived on stage throughout, thus negating the need for the regular movement of it on and off. Though much of the lighting was fine, maybe even more variation could have ramped up the visual impact, but it was used alongside a great soundscape, particularly in the wartime scenes.

From the opening music – the theme of ‘Dad’s Army’ - to the extraordinarily powerful end of the play, the audience was treated to a most amazing biographical experience. As mentioned, this is not an easy play to stage, but Graham Pountney should be applauded for this production; the standing ovation was aimed at the whole company, but, in particular, for Mansel David who created a character full of warmth, charm, vulnerability and bravery. Arnold Ridley lived a very full life, punctuated by the most terrible bad luck and ill fortune, but also blessed by his talent and the many friends he made. It is a story so very well worth telling; Nicolas Ridley has done so with love, respect and honesty and Theatre Reviva have presented a joyous production to the public.

Cast

Mansel David – Arnold Ridley

Chioma Ugwu – Carer, Teacher, Ensemble

Graham Pountney – Elderly Actor, Bank Manager, Club Member, Ensemble

Daphne Batson – Elderly Actress, Boot Shop Customer, Welsh Lady, Ensemble

Mark Collins – Stranger, A E Filmer, David Croft, Ensemble

Ollie Fry – Father, Bernard Merivale, Private Frazer, Ensemble

Hanna Nixon -  Mother, Althea, Ensemble

Peter Lundie – John Drinkwater, Harry Cohen, Bill MacLean, Ensemble

Evie Massey – Third Friend, Second Fan, Ensemble

Olivia Padina-Gray – Elsie, Film Assistant, Ensemble

Creatives

Writer – Nicolas Ridley

Director – Graham Pountney

Set Design – Isle of Wight College Design Department

Lighting – Quay Arts

Sound – Tony Collins and Stuart Ballingal/Vectis Ventures

Uniforms – Andy Robertshaw/Battlefield Partnership

Photo Credit – Andy Newbold