Blackeyed Theatre is currently touring a major revival of Oh What a Lovely War to mark the 60th anniversary of Joan Littlewood’s epic anti-war musical. We spoke to director Nicky Allpress about the new production.

You’re currently directing the revival of Oh What a Lovely War. What attracted you to work on this project?

I’ve always wanted to work with Blackeyed Theatre. I love their adaptations of classic stories so when they mentioned Oh What a Lovely War, I was thrilled to have the chance to direct this classic. Like many people, I’d first come across this brilliant piece at school. Whilst working on it, I rarely came across anyone who didn’t have either fond memories of it, or had theatrical inspiration from it. It mixes everything I love from comedy to pathos, music and satire, into an evening’s entertainment.

Originally conceived by Joan Littlewood, do you think that having a strong female influence on the production (both with Joan and yourself in this production) gives a specific aspect to the performance, even though the main cast is male dominated?

The subject matter is universal, Joan knew how it touched all of us, men and women alike, so created the piece with a neutral, unified flavour. Although it was men in the trenches in World War I, nurses, wives, mothers, children – Emmeline Pankhurst herself a protestor at the time – all felt the impact of war – as we do today. As far as our revival is concerned, I think we’ve all contributed equally to sensitivity, a sense of fun and unity, and actually, with our brilliant MD, Ellie Ververk, a brilliantly creative company stage manager, Orla Daly, our female cast members Chioma Uma and Alice E Mayer, and myself, it hasn’t felt like a male dominated room at all. Especially given the fact that our male cast and creatives are such generous and supportive collaborators, it’s felt like a really balanced, happy rehearsal room. Partly from necessity, but also because Joan Littlewood would applaud it. From day one, I encouraged the cast to embrace gender fluidity – I think everyone plays male/female characters at some point. I don’t know if I bring a specifically female influence any more than Joan did.

This tour marks the 60th anniversary of the original production. Do you think that the themes of the piece are still as relevant today as they were when it was first performed?

Most definitely. We still have meaningless wars being stirred and badly managed by leaders, politicians and profiteers with selfish agendas, affecting the lives of ordinary people. In Ukraine, we’ve even seen a form of trench warfare being used again, as families are torn apart. And for what? That’s Joan’s brilliant angle – lampooning the leaders while celebrating the bravery of the common man. Everyone’s struggling, even those of us who are relatively untouched by direct warfare, so the joyful, morale boosting tone is light and incredibly welcome – whilst never shying away from the hard-hitting truth.

If you could revive any piece of forgotten theatre, or revamp a long overdue piece, what would it be and why?

Oooh that’s a good question. I love comedy, from restoration satire to Neil Simon, he’s one of my favourite writers so anything of his. There’s a couple of terrific thrillers that I’d like to revisit, and I’ve always loved Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s musical adaptation The Front Page – but it’s sadly such a huge, mostly male cast that it’s tricky programming to justify or afford.

You’re part of the Young Vic Creators Programme. What can you tell us about that?

The team running the Creators Programme at the Old Vic really do seek to champion and support creative theatre makers from every discipline, including producers, designers, directors, writers and artists at an emerging level. They offer fantastic workshops with leading dramaturgs, theatre makers, producers and practitioners, while also hosting networking events to help members find new, like-minded collaborators. It’s a fantastic programme and I’d highly recommend it to anyone hoping to make theatre. It’s a place to learn, connect, find new opportunities and to find your tribe.

Oh What A Lovely War tours the country until May 2024, with further information here.