The Two Worlds of Charlie F

This is an insightful and touching show, a fleeting look into the worlds of those servicemen and women whose lives are turned upside down by incidents we see as tiny footnotes in the news, casualties from IED attacks, nameless actions, accidents and engagements lost on the conflict maps.

The story opens in a hospital, a soldier screaming as he comes to in a Birmingham hospital, still lost in the dust and noise of the frontline, raging at nurses and family he sees as the enemy. And then he is standing before us, his stump propped up on crutches, telling his tale, Corporal Charlie Fowler, a Canadian Royal Marine who lost his leg to a landmine before being captured.

Charlie F is joined by men and women from all sorts of backgrounds, broad chested lads from English estates who joined at 16 for the thrill, young Commonwealth recruits from Trinidad, career NCOS from military families. All sorts of people, falling in to tell their tales,  their reasons for joining, accounts of life in uniform, looking out for each other in tough conditions, losing friends, and limbs.

The taste of the forces romance is there, the camaraderie, friendships and humour which makes life in the forces bearable, letters from home, the endless banter, the backstories of home and problems with partners. And then it’s blasts and bullets, horror and all too common injuries drawn on the torso of a buff soldier.

Rifleman Dan ‘Shawty’ Shaw recounts having his legs blown off while trying to rescue a comrade, there is the colour Sgt who lost limbs in a Belfast Bomb, the Major who had shrapnel tear through his brain “I used to command 700 men,” he says with the assertive voice of command “Now I can’t even command myself’. Different characters with different injuries and scars, physical and mental.

The key part here is the cast, which includes real wounded, injured and sick (WIS) soldiers, many missing limbs, their tales are personal and compelling. They blend seamlessly with the professional actors, so much so you have to clock the programme to tell the difference often as not. Admirable performances all, considering they have lived through the horror they describe, the depression, the nightmares, isolation, family distress and pain.

The interactions with family members are particularly touching, as those who return are often no longer the people who left, now damaged, traumatised and broken. The love on which they rely tested, often to the limit, with alcoholism and violence in some cases. Yet, life goes on and through the damage and the haze of drugs, they fight their way through the pain of rehabilitation and keep going as best they can.

These are real experiences, which brings home the reality of being the unlucky one on the receiving end, followed by the much bigger battle that comes afterwards as they struggle to rebuild their lives. This is raw, compelling viewing, whether you know much about the forces or not, and worthy of the standing ovation given. It should be mandatory viewing for politicians and new recruits.

The Two Worlds of Charlie F plays from Monday 14 to Saturday 18 April 2014 at Nottingham's Theatre Royal.