REVIEW: OUR WAR at Jack Studio Theatre 20 October – 2 November 2024

Photos: Georgia Sims



“Our War is a moving piece of theatre that explores a vital, often overlooked piece of history” ★★★★

Our War opens with a series of British wartime posters that present the African nations of the commonwealth as united with Britain against the shared enemy of the Axis powers. Patriotic music swells. Who would not want to join and fight the good fight? The ‘Mother Country’ needs everyone to play their part. The rest of the play demonstrates the chasm between this projection and the reality of Black people’s experiences during the Second World War. Two cousins from Nigeria, Ola and Christian, join the war effort for distinct reasons and in distinct capacities – the former as a nurse in England, the latter as a soldier in Burma. As the war progresses, Ola and Christian’s different experiences lead them to the same realisation: all human life was devalued during the War, but some human life was devalued more than the rest. 

Andrew Ashaye’s script translates the historical realities of the War into compelling, character-driven narratives. The result is a play that grabs its audience and never lets them go. The play takes the form of interwoven monologues. Predominantly, these monologues are Ola and Christian’s letters to one another. Whilst the letter-writing device gets a significant emotional payoff at the end of the play when Christian reads out his final letter, it sometimes constrains the play’s emotional impact. Some of Christian’s early entries in particular took on an expositional feel that distanced the audience from his experiences. The strongest moments by far were those when the characters’ monologues broke out of the letter-writing device and took us through the characters’ experiences in real time. Two especially impactful sequences involved the V2 Woolworths rocket bomb disaster and a London bomb raid. One wonders if a version of the play that found more opportunities for this form of monologue would carry even more emotional weight. 

Lola Oteh-Cole and Ola Teniola, playing Ola and Christian respectively, were brilliant. Their brief dabbles in multi-rolling, which led to moments in the play that were both funny and devastating, were a highlight. Oteh-Cole in particular shines as Ola, a nurse who wants to see the beauty in her work and in England, but is unrelentingly confronted with the horror and ugliness of both. Their performances are supported by an excellent creative team, led by Kate Bannister as director. Two particularly effective elements of the production were Florence Hand’s sound design and the use of props to embody the casualties of the rocket bomb disaster. Bannister’s decision to stage the final sequence of the play against the silhouette of Christian works well also. It reminds us that behind each of the thousands of West African soldiers who died in Burma, there was a real person whose life was too soon ended by war and too soon forgotten by history.

Our War is a moving piece of theatre that explores a vital, often overlooked piece of history. I hope the play has a life beyond its debut production. 

Our War by Andrew Ashaye / Imole Theatre / Jack Studio Theatre / 20 October – 2 November 2024 

Reviewer Katie Walker-Cook is an actor and writer.