Journey's End

This show has now closed, click here for a listing of current and future London shows

Play Opened 22 September 2005, Closed 28 January 2006

New Ambassadors Theatre West Street, London

"David Grindley directs the production superbly. Wonderful stuff" The Daily Express

Journey's End by R C Sheriff is set during World War I and concerns a group of British soldiers, showing the effects the war has on them - both physically and mentally.

When Journey's End was first staged in 1929 it was dubbed the play that swept the world and did so like no other play of its time. Stanhope, a young Captain promoted beyond his years, prepares his men for a daring raid accross No Man's Land and an impending enemy attack. Based on Sherriff's experience in the trenches, this outstanding play, with its humour, courage and fear, is as pertinent now as ever.

21 January 2004 marked the 75th anniversary of the first West End performance of Journey's End at the Savoy Theatre in 1929.

This production was originally seen at the Comedy Theatre prior to transferring to the Playhouse Theatre and then the Duke of York's Theatre. Now, due to popular demand, it returns to London's West End, this time at The New Ambassadors Theatre.

Journey's End is set in the trenches during the First World War and there are many loud explosions and artillery noises during the course of the play.

"An emotional knock-out" The London Evening Standard

"The revival of RC Sherriff's great play about life in the trenches during the First World War has been one of the most surprising and gratifying theatrical success stories of recent years... Now recast, yet again, Journey's End is back for a further season, and there isn't a more powerful or moving play in London... Jonathan Fensom's meticulously naturalistic dug-out setting, and Gregory Clarke's thrilling sound design, in which explosions seem to make the theatre physically shake, both deserve special commendation, while Grindley's inspired final tableau arouses emotions that go too deep for words." The Daily Telegraph

"This production is utterly fresh, the characters are deeply touching, even the pauses are wonderful" The Financial Times

"This play, which eloquently celebrates heroism while exposing the waste and idiocies of war, may be 75 years old (and now a set text), but it has lost none of its power to move and provoke. For almost three hours you share a stinking, muddy dugout with soldiers just yards away from the enemy line and just days away from a massive raid. David Grindley's damned fine, frightfully well acted production ensures you'll need more than a tot of rum to keep the tears at bay." The Mail on Sunday

"An outstanding, deeply moving, superbly acted production" The Daily Telegraph

"Magnificent revival of Journey's End... R C Sherriff's First World War play had its West End premiere in 1929, and 75 years on it turns out to have lost none of its power... The play packs in a great deal about the circumstances of the war and the spirit of the men caught up in it. But when it touches on such large topics as comradeship, or courage, or the shortcomings of the top brass, it mostly does so through small confrontations and casual remarks. There is no straining after epic effect. The men are individuals, not representative types - though by the end we do feel that they have acquired a symbolic value, and that this small corner of the war can also stand for the war as a whole." The Sunday Telegraph

"A gripping, thoroughly worthwhile evening. The most stirring war play I know" The Times

"This is a tremendous production of a tremendous play. The terrible, matter-of-fact restraint of the performances gradually grips you, makes you feel tight in the stomach and fills you with anger and pity. R C Sherriff's 1929 play about the first world war has lost none of its force.... David Grindley directs like a master." The Sunday Times

"In Journey's End, we are in the trenches of the First World War, holed up in a dugout near St Quentin just before the last major German offensive of March 1918. Written in 1928, R C Sherriff's classic about the officers and lieutenants of a doomed brigade might sound like an old warhorse, but this is actually a searing portrait of troops going to the slaughter... Sherriff's dialogue has dated astonishingly little and his portrait of the stress and fear endured is intensely poignant. David Grindley's revival, where everyone lives in a pool of muddy water under a corrugated iron roof, is compelling, with naturalistic, pin-sharp acting and slowly mounting tensions." The Independent on Sunday