When The Wind Blows
Review
It’s easy for us to forget just how real the prospect of a nuclear bomb seemed in the early 1980s as the Soviet Union and the USA squared up to one another.
And it may be hard to credit that the government actually issued leaflets with instructions on how to survive such a bomb.
Raymond Briggs’s script gently satirises the ridiculous nature of its advice on building a shelter and stocking up with emergency rations.
We follow the efforts of retired couple Jim and Hilda Bloggs to follow the advice ahead of a nuclear strike – and see what happens when they emerge from their makeshift shelter after the bomb blast.
HumDrum AmDram’s production ably conveys both the affection between the couple and the hopelessness of their situation.
Real-life husband and wife team Roy and Gladys Wilcox both excel. His reassuring, optimistic male who wants to follow the correct procedure contrasts well with her caring housewife who laments the untidiness the bomb has left their house in.
It almost seems cruel to laugh at two elderly people who constantly confuse the nuclear war with the Second World War, but the audience begins not to laugh towards the end as the full horror sets in.
The ending is almost unbearably sad – but that’s not a good reason not to see this fine production.
Neil Pugmire – the Portsmouth News – Wednesday 10 November 1999
