Producer saddened by West End cancellation

A PRODUCER from Henley who was due to stage the first play in the West End since theatres first closed in March has been left devastated by the new national coronavirus lockdown.

Jack Maple, 25, had teamed up with his school friend, director Alexander Knott, for a new adaptation of Private Peaceful which was due to have its opening performance tomorrow (Saturday), but has been forced to cancel with theatres closed again.

The story of the same name by Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, The Butterfly Lion) follows the life of Private Tommo Peaceful.

He narrates his own story and the events that make him the person who he is, from his first love to fighting in the First World War alongside his brother.

The show had been set for a two-week run at the Garrick Theatre and included a gala night on Remembrance Sunday.

Jack said: “I am devastated by the news that the theatres have to close, but despite all that the show must go on and will go on and we are looking at rescheduling the shows for early next year.

“The theatre has been really good about it but they are of course having to juggle lots of other shows. While we are unlikely to see shows open this side of Christmas, theatres have been incredibly supportive so there is some light in the darkness.”

Jack had first come across Private Peaceful when he saw it in London as part of a class trip when he attended the Oratory School in Woodcote.

He then revisited the play during the first lockdown period as a means of putting together a small-scale show for when theatre’s were allowed to re-open.

Jack said: “When lockdown [first] happened I found myself out of work and I started to think of small shows that could be done without a big cast and a band. Then I remembered this production.

“It is a one-man story where Tommo narrates his own life growing up in a small town. He witnesses the death of his father, falls in love and enlists in the army with his brother. It is a harrowing story but brilliant.

“As it is written by Michael Morpurgo I thought it was potentially quite commercial and it is still on the school syllabus.” Jack and Alex brought in Emily Costello to become the first female to play Tommo on the professional stage and James Demaine to play the brother and other roles.

Jack said: “When I saw it before it was a one-man show but Alex wanted to see the relationship between the brothers and, as another genius brainwave, Tommo, for the first time, was played by a girl.

Then as venues started to re-open in July, Morpurgo gave his permission for the show and the Barn Theatre in Cirencester offered to stage it.

At the start of August there was a week of performances to 120 people at a time. The production then moved to the Bristol Old Vic for another successful run before being transferred to the West End.

Jack said: “This was going to be the first musical to open on the West End and the entire cast and creative team were making their West End debut

“Private Peaceful is a timeless story. Michael said at a question and answer session at an earlier performance that with covid the world is at war again but with an unknown foe.”

Jack, who lives in London, grew up in Henley and his mother lives in Gravel Hill, which is where he spent the first lockdown.

He said: “I came back to Henley and lived with Mum for nine weeks and did a lot of long dog walks with her cockapoo listening to musicals and reading plays and writing. With the second lockdown it’s back to the reading and longing to hear the sound of audiences again.”