What would life be like if the Nazis had successfully invaded and occupied Britain? Antaeus, L.A.’s award-winning classical theater company, presents the U.S. premiere of Noël Coward’s rarely produced anti-war drama in a new adaption with music.
Set in a London pub during the 1940s, Peace In Our Time imagines English life under Nazi occupation. Complacency or freedom - which would you choose? Coward conceived the idea while in Paris shortly after the Liberation. He wrote, “I began to suspect that the physical effect of four years of intermittent bombing is far less damaging to the intrinsic character of a nation than the spiritual effect of four years of enemy occupation.”
The new adaptation adds emotional resonance to the original by adding nine of Coward's lesser-known songs. Coward's distinctive, Music Hall style ditties with their incisive and wickedly ironic lyrics give the piece an authentic sensibility, at the same time offering audiences a deeper connection with the characters and their tribulations.
Written in 1946, Peace in Our Time opened 63 years ago at the Theatre Royal, Brighton (July 15, 1947), moved to the Lyric Theatre, London on July 22, and finally to the Aldwych Theatre on September 29, where it ran for 167 performances. It has never before been performed in the United States – perhaps due to the fact that the cast includes 22 speaking roles. But it’s the large cast, together with the complexity of relationships among the characters, that makes Peace In Our Time an ideal choice for Antaeus with its 100-plus classically trained members and A2 Ensemble of young professionals.
Peace In Our Time runs Oct 20-Dec 11; The Antaeus Company @ Deaf West Theatre
5112 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood CA 91601; $15-$40; (818) 506-1983; www.Antaeus.org