Review: Shellshocked at Leeds Playhouse

“…brilliantly written..”

Shellshocked by Philip Stokes, Leeds Playhouse

by Helen Kelly

As soon as you walk into the Bramell Rock Void theatre, at Leeds Playhouse, the sound of an old radio broadcast is playing. What you don’t realise till later on is that the Shakespeare play it is playing, Richard the Third, has a relevance to the play itself.

The first character that we meet is Mr Lupine, played by Lee Bainbridge, who walks on to the stage with a limp. Your head tells you that this unassuming man is no threat. After hearing the door knock, which he does not answer, you watch him as he walks over to a desk drawer, looks inside to make sure the contents are in there, and he pats it as if to reassure himself that it is safe. The audience, at this time, is unaware of what is in this drawer.

Wesley enters, played by Jack Stokes, and it is then that Mr Lupine’s character becomes more complex as he tries to push Wesley – who had already seen the horrors of war and returned a hero, but with the diagnosed condition of ‘shellshock’ – to create Mr Lupine’s final masterpiece.

This play is brilliantly written by Phillip Stokes. It is not too heavy, because of the sprinkling of humour throughout, but the way the character of Mr Lupine is written throughout means that you are just not sure whether he is a bully or if he is trying to focus Wesley into thinking more accurately in ways that would enhance his painting. Only towards the end do you realise that jealousy fuels Mr. Lupine behaviour because Wesley is a better artist and, in his opinion, has had more opportunities. For Wesley, however, he was told by his mother that as the breadwinner for the family now he needed to secure the apprenticeship of this master craftsman for the family to survive.

This really was a play with many twists and surprises. Both actors provided powerful performances in this play and they were both equally matched as stars of the show. Jack Stokes, when he talked about his character’s family and his time away at war, really captured the feelings, not only in speech but body language too, to show how proud yet sad he was to be the man of the family, but on the other hand, how shocked and depressed from the toil that war had on him as a young soldier. Lee Bainbridge’s performance of the cunning man left you undecided as to his motivations until the end. One minute you were hating him and the next you were thinking, oh it was just a test.

Shellshocked is a great play. The only thing that was a little was off-putting for me was the incidental music every now and then. I don’t think it added anything to the play; unlike the radio performance at the beginning due to the similarities between Shakespeare’s Richard the Third and Mr Lupine. Nevertheless, I would definitely recommend this production, especially if you like twists and turns and performances that really make you think.

Shellshocked plays at Leeds Playhouse until 08 February. Tickets are available here.

Helen Kelly wrote and published her first Romance book in 2022 after being inspired by completing three master’s degrees in history. She has now written three books and various short stories. In her spare time, Helen loves to visit various parts of the country, some of which have been an inspiration for her books. Helen is a mother of two grown-up daughters living in North Yorkshire. She loves to read and to visit historical places and theatres. Find out more about Helen at www.helenkellyauthor.com