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Theatre: Blood + Chocolate

Poignant tale of the 'chocolate' soldiers on the eve of destruction

Blood + Chocolate

York

5 Stars

The whole of York is a stage.

Landmark buildings throughout the city centre are lit up with projections, alleys and squares are filled with Union Jack-waving patriots, and fountains become transformed into squalid trenches as the "story of some of its forgotten people" is revealed in Blood + Chocolate.

The play's writer Mike Kenny drew inspiration from the city's lord mayor sending a Rowntree's chocolate tin to every local soldier who fought at the front during the Christmas of 1914 to create this gripping social history of the city's "chocolate families."

In this hugely ambitious promenade production - a collaboration between Slung Low, Pilot and York Theatre Royal - there's a community cast of 180 and a support network of 600 people. These figures and the logistics of putting together the "citywide adventure" are remarkable.

Yet as the audience listen to the characters' conversations via headphones what impresses is the extent to which the production manages to be immersive and emotionally moving.

It's a process that's aided by "plants" at certain stages of the production, with soldiers elbowing their way through the crowd and ripping off their jackets to reveal khaki uniforms and Auld Lang Syne being sung by individuals scattered throughout the audience, blurring what can be heard via the headphones and in person.

Key sets of individuals and the way in which they're transformed by the war - a mother and her four sons, a young couple and a conscientious objector - come into focus.

From initial optimism about it "all being over by Christmas," the tone gradually becomes darker as the grim reality takes hold and the audience's knowledge of what lies ahead adds painful poignancy to the mother's teary assertion of "never again."

Woven into these personal stories are wider social and political strands, including the fight for women's suffrage and the average life expectancy of postmen serving the front line.

These details illustrate the depth of research that was undertaken in putting together the production but never overshadow the sacrifice of the individuals.

An epic, cinematic experience, Blood + Chocolate builds on the writing and production team's previous success in putting together last year's York Mystery Plays and leaves the audience wondering where they can possibly go next.

Runs until October 20. Box office: (01904) 623-568.

Susan Darlington

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