Private Peaceful Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh 17th September 2026 Review
Private Peaceful is at the Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh for three dates only (Thu 17 to Sat 19 September) and, over 100 years after the events, our fascination with World War l stories seems to be endless. Something about that combination of patriotism, naivety, the carnage, killing and the waste of young lives on an industrial scale seems
to hold the attention of film and theatre audiences across the world. A pretty much full house in the theatre was proof of this tonight.
What stories are we now telling though as there are now no living survivors of this conflict, no first hand witnesses to confirm or deny events?
This production, by producer Joshua Beaumont for The Production Garden, which is adapted and directed by Simon Reade, takes the 2003 young adult novel by Michael Morpurgo to new audiences in a tour that runs from September 2026 to February 2027. Taking Michael Morpurgo's story to stage in this one man show, we, the audience, are given a very human story of Tommo (Tommy Peaceful) who was legally underage to join the army and be sent overseas to fight, and to look at his childhood and the people and events that led him to this decision. High on that list of events was the desire to be with his older brother by three years, Charlie.
The set is a simple one, a battleground background and a single army bunk bed. The opening music of soldiers’ lyrics to popular tunes of the period takes us to Private Peaceful, on his bed, checking on his pocket watch the time slowly ticking away that night, whilst the morning looms ahead for him. At 6am he will be shot for disobeying an order from his superior officer on the battlefield, shot for cowardice. How his young life led him to this fate is told by Benjamin Cain.
Benjamin Cain's portrayal of Private Peaceful is one of many different faces and sides, as in this performance he takes on the voices and personas of every person in his story so far and, to do that well on stage you need to be, as Benjamin is, a natural story teller who can draw an audience into the world of his story, his character and keep them there, in this case, for 80 minutes with no interval. A demanding task for any performer, but one which Benjamin Cain does very well here, and there is never a moment where this story slows down its pace. As an audience we follow seamlessly the life of Private Peaceful (Tommo) from his first day at school to his final hours of life.
This story may be full of many of the well-used WWl references, the trenches, the never-ending mud and rain, and the utter waste of so many lives, but here Michael Morpurgo is tackling a very serious subject, the fact that over 300 British soldiers were shot by their own army for crimes such as desertion and cowardice, their fate decided in mock trials that sometimes lasted only 20 minutes. Many of these unfortunate soldiers were men recovering from shell-shock (not recognised by the British Army at the time) and sent back into battlefield conditions with little, if any, professional help.
This novel helped to further the campaign to grant posthumous pardons to these men. This was eventually implemented by the UK government in 2006.
Oddly though, despite the public’s endless fascination with this war and its many horrors, it seems that these are often too distressing to portray, as content advice for this show included amongst other things in the list, non-graphic violence (intense, but not explicit), depictions of armed conflict and themes of death and war. What else should we expect from a story and production about WWl trench warfare?
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
to hold the attention of film and theatre audiences across the world. A pretty much full house in the theatre was proof of this tonight.
What stories are we now telling though as there are now no living survivors of this conflict, no first hand witnesses to confirm or deny events?
This production, by producer Joshua Beaumont for The Production Garden, which is adapted and directed by Simon Reade, takes the 2003 young adult novel by Michael Morpurgo to new audiences in a tour that runs from September 2026 to February 2027. Taking Michael Morpurgo's story to stage in this one man show, we, the audience, are given a very human story of Tommo (Tommy Peaceful) who was legally underage to join the army and be sent overseas to fight, and to look at his childhood and the people and events that led him to this decision. High on that list of events was the desire to be with his older brother by three years, Charlie.
The set is a simple one, a battleground background and a single army bunk bed. The opening music of soldiers’ lyrics to popular tunes of the period takes us to Private Peaceful, on his bed, checking on his pocket watch the time slowly ticking away that night, whilst the morning looms ahead for him. At 6am he will be shot for disobeying an order from his superior officer on the battlefield, shot for cowardice. How his young life led him to this fate is told by Benjamin Cain.
Benjamin Cain's portrayal of Private Peaceful is one of many different faces and sides, as in this performance he takes on the voices and personas of every person in his story so far and, to do that well on stage you need to be, as Benjamin is, a natural story teller who can draw an audience into the world of his story, his character and keep them there, in this case, for 80 minutes with no interval. A demanding task for any performer, but one which Benjamin Cain does very well here, and there is never a moment where this story slows down its pace. As an audience we follow seamlessly the life of Private Peaceful (Tommo) from his first day at school to his final hours of life.
This story may be full of many of the well-used WWl references, the trenches, the never-ending mud and rain, and the utter waste of so many lives, but here Michael Morpurgo is tackling a very serious subject, the fact that over 300 British soldiers were shot by their own army for crimes such as desertion and cowardice, their fate decided in mock trials that sometimes lasted only 20 minutes. Many of these unfortunate soldiers were men recovering from shell-shock (not recognised by the British Army at the time) and sent back into battlefield conditions with little, if any, professional help.
This novel helped to further the campaign to grant posthumous pardons to these men. This was eventually implemented by the UK government in 2006.
Oddly though, despite the public’s endless fascination with this war and its many horrors, it seems that these are often too distressing to portray, as content advice for this show included amongst other things in the list, non-graphic violence (intense, but not explicit), depictions of armed conflict and themes of death and war. What else should we expect from a story and production about WWl trench warfare?
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com