In the Mouth of the Wolf is a famous book by Michael Morpurgo. It has been adapted for stage, and is now a play as well. Here’s my In the Mouth of the Wolf theatre review.
Overview of In the Mouth of the Wolf
In the Mouth of the Wolf is currently playing at the Barn Theatre in Cirencester. It’s a play that’s based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, set during World War Two. Michael Morpurgo is a famous author of children’s books, including War Horse that has been adapted into an amazing West End play. The stage adaptation of In the Mouth of the Wolf isn’t anywhere near the same level as War Horse, but there are still lots of positive elements about the show. My In the Mouth of the Wolf theatre review will discuss the plot of the theatre show, so be warned that it will give a few plot spoilers.
In the Mouth of the Wolf follows the story of two brothers, Francis and Pieter. The book by Michael Morpurgo is based on a true story of Morpurgo’s uncles. The story is told from the point of view of Francis. It covers the story of the two brothers, their different attitudes to World War Two, and how the events of the war shaped their lives.
The In the Mouth of the Wolf play has a cast of just three actors. There’s one actor who plays Francis throughout the show. There’s another actor who plays Pieter, as well as some other characters in scenes that don’t feature Pieter. And then there’s a female actor, who plays Francis’s wife as well as many other characters.
Plot synopsis of In the Mouth of the Wolf
In the Mouth of the Wolf on stage begins with Francis, as an older man, appearing on ‘This is your Life’. Francis talks briefly about his life, and the events that led him to that point. The show then cuts to the past. The next scene is Francis and Pieter, playing together as young boys. This scene is set before World War Two, but the two boys are already discussing the possibility that there might be another war. It is clear, even from these early scenes, that the two brothers have a very different attitude to war. Francis is a pacifist, and believes that violence is not the answer. Pieter, on the other hand, is in favour of fighting in the war.
The next scenes show Francis and Pieter as they are growing up. Pieter becomes an actor, while Francis becomes a teacher. When the Second World War begins, Pieter signs up and goes to fight in the war.
Francis remains in the UK as a school teacher during the early stages of the war. He meets his wife, Nancy, and they get married. Pieter is fighting in the war. But Pieter is killed during the war.
The death of his brother has a profound effect upon Francis. He begins to question his pacifist values. And Francis ultimately decides to join the army, his views having been changed by the death of his brother.
Francis in the army in World War Two
Francis begins his army training, learning to be part of the Secret Service. And Francis goes to France to be part of the war effort, and along with other soldiers, is involved with plots to disrupt communication lines, among other things. The work is dangerous, and there is one moment where Francis is discovered by a Nazi soldier. Francis ends up killing the Nazi soldier to save his own life.
The show continues to show scenes that flick between Francis’s time in the war, and also his time at home with Nancy, where they now have two children together. Francis’s time in the war is dangerous. And he makes close friends with his fellow soldiers. But ultimately he manages to stay alive until the end of the war.
The play ends back at the ‘This is your life’ scene. Francis, and also some of the other main characters, tell the audience about their life after the war. We learn that one of the soldiers that Francis was close to during the war was then murdered shortly after the war. And we learn that Francis continued to live with Nancy until his death when he was in his 90s.
What I liked about In the Mouth of the Wolf – the play
I have mixed feelings about In the Mouth of the Wolf as a play. I’ll go into the things I wasn’t so sure about later. But there were definitely elements of the show that I enjoyed.
There were elements of the show that felt emotional. The show could definitely have been more emotional. But there were some scenes that triggered emotions from the audience. The subject matter itself is emotional. So it’s hard to not be moved by a play that deals with the tragedies of World War Two.
It was interesting to see a show that explored different approaches and opinions on violence in World War Two. So many plays, books and films about World War Two are about the soldiers who fought in the war. So it was interesting to see a play that focussed on a character who was a pacifist, and didn’t agree with the violence of war. It was also interesting to see how Francis’s views on pacifism changed throughout the war, especially after the death of his brother.
The play also did a good job at showing some of the sacrifices that ‘ordinary’ people made during the war. There were some moving scenes in the second half of the show that showed how some of the local people in France sheltered Francis and his fellow soldiers while they were working undercover during the Nazi occupation. These ordinary civilians – often women – risked their own lives to help the war effort. The play acknowledges at the end that the bravery and sacrifices of these women were of huge importance in the war effort, and so often go unacknowledged and not recognised. I liked that the play In the Mouth of the Wolf showed some of these lesser-told stories from World War Two.
What I wasn’t so sure about
Although there were elements of the play In the Mouth of the Wolf that I enjoyed, I wasn’t as amazed with it as I hoped I would be. My In the Mouth of the Wolf theatre review is definitely a bit mixed. There were several elements of the play that I wasn’t so sure about.
Limited set
The play In the Mouth of the Wolf at the Barn Theatre in Cirencester had very limited set on stage. The stage was very dark, with almost no props. I’ve seen other shows at this theatre that had impressive and elaborate sets, so I know it’s possible at this theatre. So it must have been a production choice for this play.
I think some extra set and props would have helped this show. The play flicks between different scenes quickly, often with big time gaps in between the scenes. Some set or props would have helped paint the picture for the audience that we were now in a different scene and different time. They only really had one school desk, which also became a car in later scenes. And the back of the stage occasionally opened up, with some interesting light and smoke. But that was it. Having more set would have made the show more interesting and dynamic for the audience.
Only 3 actors in the play
The choice to only have 3 actors playing all characters was interesting, but again I’m not sure how well this worked. The female actor played the most characters – she must have played at least 10 characters. And she played male characters as well, but sometimes with a slight comedy vibe. It didn’t always feel appropriate to the show to have a female actor playing a male characters with a comedy vibe, when the scenes were about such a serious subject matter.
She also played both Francis’s wife, and also a female soldier that he was with in France that he may have had a romantic interest in. Having both of these characters played by the same actor didn’t work as well, and it would have felt better to have had different actors playing these roles.
Having more actors would have also helped the show to feel more interesting and dynamic for the audience. And it would have given the audience a chance to get more emotionally invested in some of the characters.
More emotion needed
I was expecting to find this show a lot more emotional. There was definitely some emotion, but not as much as I would have liked. I feel like the scene where Francis hears that his brother, Pieter, has been killed in the war should have been hugely emotional. But it was quick scene, and the show quickly moved onto the next scene. If you hadn’t been listening for a minute, you could easily have missed that this huge event had even happened. There was so much missed opportunity in this scene to get the audience to really feel the emotion and sadness of Pieter’s death.
I also felt like there wasn’t enough emotion in the scene in the second half of the play where Francis kills the Nazi soldier. This should have been another hugely important scene in the play. Francis, who has been a pacifist his whole life, ends up shooting and killing a man. Surely it must have caused a lot of inner turmoil for Francis. But, like so many scenes in this play, it’s over quickly and we move onto the next scene. So it’s not an emotional or pivotal moment in the play because it’s such a short scene.
There’s also a super brief moment where it seems like Francis is about to kiss the female soldier he’s been with during the war. Again, this should have been a pivotal moment in the play, if Francis was falling in love with a soldier when his wife and children were at home. But this scene is super quick. Within a few seconds, the scene is over and isn’t referenced again. So the audience can’t feel any of the emotion that this scene had the potential to show.
Too many short scenes
Throughout the whole play, the scenes are short and change quickly. So it’s hard to build up emotion within a single scene. Apart from Francis, we don’t see the other characters much, or for long. So the audience can’t form an emotional connection with many of the characters. We only have a handful of scenes with Pieter before he is killed, so it’s hard to form an emotional attachment to Pieter to then be sad that he’s died.
We also only see Francis’s wife, Nancy, for a handful of short scenes. So we can never cover any of the emotion of her character and what she must have been feeling. She was left at home with small children, while Francis was away at war, and undoubtedly must have been worrying about Francis in the war. And there’s the hint that Francis may have been interested in another woman during the war. But we never really saw any of this. Just a few short scenes, covering subject matter that easily could have been a whole play in itself.
The whole play just felt like it flicked too quickly between scenes to be able to build much emotion or attachment to characters in the audience. I would have much preferred fewer but more in depth, emotional scenes, even if that meant cutting out some scenes, characters or plot.
The beginning of the play gives a spoiler – again, limiting the emotion
I also thought it was shame that the play In the Mouth of the Wolf started with the ‘This is your life’ scene with Francis. It means that throughout the whole play, we know that Francis survives the war because he is alive in older age for the ‘This is your life’ scene.
So throughout the whole second half of the play, when Francis is at war, there’s no suspense about whether Francis gets captured and killed, or whether he survives. Francis is nearly captured a few times. But we know that he survives the war, because of the first scene of the play. If the play didn’t reveal that Francis survives right at the beginning, the war scenes would have had more suspense and emotion as the audience wondered if Francis would survive.
Would I recommend going to see In the Mouth of the Wolf – the play
My In the Mouth of the Wolf theatre review is mixed. So I’m not sure if I recommend going to see it. There are definitely positive elements to the show. And it covers a hugely important and sensitive subject. But the fast pacing of the play, along with the limited set and actors, didn’t quite work for me. For me, it meant that the emotion wasn’t as strong as it could have been and the play lacked dynamism.
Hope you enjoyed my In the Mouth of the Wolf theatre review! Check out my other theatre reviews for more shows in the West End, across the UK and the world.
