Stars ***** Honestly, I wish I could give more.
From about thirty seconds in the tears started and I don't think they stopped until I got home. The Two Worlds of Charlie F is the story, slightly fictionalised, of how the actors, ex service personnel, were injured in battle. We start in Selly Oak Hospital where injured personnel were brought for treatment before the new Queen Elizabeth was opened. I was pleased that unlike in the documentary the Brummie accent wasn't over done! Lance Corporal Charlie Fowler (Cassidy Little) is waking up for the first time since he was injured in Afghanistan completely confused about his surroundings.
He then takes us through a tour of how he and the rest of the company joined up, training, arrival in Afghanistan, being injured, recovery and life afterwards. Seeing them acting out what was possibly the worst event of their lives; the mentally traumatic recoveries; and coming to terms with losing a part of themselves was incredibly powerful and to do that each night must take a lot of strength.
I have never known a theatre to be so silent through a play before, a stunned silence where people even forgot to laugh at the jokes until someone else did. There was a standing ovation at the end like I have never seen, it wasn't the normal loud cheering and whistling, it was quiet with an atmosphere that felt like the audience were paying respect to the team.
I was left feeling humbled by these people, I am a crutches user myself, the press team at The Grand always make sure I have an aisle seat that is near enough to somewhere I can leave my crutches. Watching these people who have achieved so much really affected me. As I walked through the theatre during the interval I reflected on the fact I was injured by a silly accident kicking off things I didn't know were wrong and it seemed so insignificant compared to them.
This is not a play to go to if you want to feel good about yourself but it is really worth seeing.
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