|  | There is a place in my heart for Spain. I lived there a few years ago and had the pleasure of getting know some very warm, welcoming people.
Most Brits think of the sun-kissed costas, and they've heard of ETA, but are unaware that less than 30 years ago, Spain was still under the Fascist dictatorship of Franco.
This was born out of the Civil War of the late 1930s - a time when political biases were extreme. The middle-ground of today was unheard of.
Whole communities and families were torn apart by the left-right divide. Days of Hope is all about one such family.
Taken from a story by Renata Allen, there are two parts to Howard Goodall's musical.
 | | The story follows the plight of one family |
Seven named characters are all part of one extended family, whose plight is acted out on a simple set, somewhere on Spain's Mediterranean coast.
Every now and again a bang on the drum heralds a song and the 40-strong company rush on to enact a well-choreographed sequence. The early songs are angry protests about political regimes.
Either side of the interval they are jolly, light-hearted, often funny ditties about day to day life.
Towards the end, it becomes slow and sentimental, focussing on the sad reality of the war, and the hope people shared.
Over the course of the musical, these songs tell the story of the Spanish Civil War, although you'd be wise to do a bit of homework on the subject beforehand (there's a handy guide in the programme).
You couldn't go to see the show with no prior knowledge, and then summarise the War in the bar afterwards.
 | | Nigel Paul plays Stanley, an Englishman who joins the fight against Franco |
This doesn't matter though - the angst-ridden night you spend with Carlos and Maria and their family leaves you in no doubt about how cruel a time it was.
Alan Boxer, (Carlos), in particular, is very convincing.
He has a lot of shouting to do as he becomes drunk and angry, and then manages to sing the beautiful "I Will Never Die" with Amy Beadel, the soldier boy, whose voice is angelic.
I was also very impressed with Kieran Dunne as the bitter Jose. It's a smaller part than the others but probably the most emotional one, and he too carried it off well.
My favourite song, Lorca, is performed by half a dozen or so of the company's females, singing in perfect harmony.
It's one of the slower, sadder songs. The lyrics, "take me muy lejos" ask of the Andalucian poet Federico Garcia Lorca, (whose family was victim to the Civil War), to take the singers far away from the nightmare.
 | | Steve Moore as Mussolini |
The lyrics in some of the earlier songs are the corny type straight out of the Tim Rice school; "our men have all gone off to fight out in Spain / to be frankly honest it's now quite a pain / though not as annoying as missing the train". Or something like that.
For me, Days of Hope was a little strange, with the two aspects creating an effect of channel-hopping, and slightly lacking a common thread at times.
But, the straight play is emotional, moving, and incredibly realistic, pulled off successfully by some burning talent.
The songs, a sort of Les Mis meets Eldorado, were very entertaining, and the well-directed mayhem proved how skilful the cast were.
Days of Hope
Northcott Theatre, Exeter
9th - 19th June at 7.30pm (no performance on the 17th)
Tickets: £11 adults (concessions available)
Box Office: 01392 493493
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