Soldiers executed during the war for cowardice. It’s hardly a relatable theme in Singapore, and much less an appropriate subject for teens. But there’s good reason for including a play based on the award-winning 2003 novel by Michael Morpurgo titled Private Peaceful, as part of the inaugural line-up for KidsFest with shows going on until Feb 2.

Staged successfully on London’s West End and having toured the United Kingdom, the play directed by Simon Reade has finally arrived on our shores.

The English teenage protagonist, Thomas “Tommo” Peaceful, a soldier in World War 1 who awaits the looming firing squad that will execute his brother Charlie at dawn for alleged “cowardice”

In the meantime, the trooper refuses to fall asleep, choosing to keep himself occupied by reminiscing moments in his life, starting from the day when he got bullied in school by Jimmy Parsons, to how he survived a series of gas-emanating bomb attacks while out fighting in the battlefield.

But key to the plot is the relationship between Tommo and his protective older brother, Charlie. The 2 are forcefully conscripted to fight the Germans in the First World War. A rift develops due to Tommo’s feelings of betrayal after he discovers that Charlie had impregnated and then married Tommo’s crush, Molly, who was a close friend to both of them. But blood is truly thicker than water and someone makes a supreme sacrifice in the end.

The action unfolds on a proscenium stage with the most elaborate props being a bronze foldable bed and vintage French army uniform alongside a handful of other minor but nonetheless important, additions like a metallic lunch box and a brown paper gas mask that served to visually enhance the scenes in which they were used.

Scoff not at the simplicity as sole the actor, Paul Chequer’s kiddish and exaggerated actions like peeking at a naked Molly or refusing to talk to Charlie despite sleeping adjacent to him, attests to Tommo’s character. Additionally, his interpretation of the cadet’s wait for the end  was superb as he maximized the space of his stage, creatively used the props for different scenes while speaking with the audience like his very own friend.

With hardly a change of costume, the solo performer also effectively played multiple roles, as audience members see a metamorphosis in his demeanor and manner of speaking completely with each character he undertook, from the schoolyard bully, to the 2 people he loved, Charlie and Molly, and, of course, the protagonist/narrator himself.

It was almost as if he was shape-shifting from a lean and mean ruffian, to a heroic and just figure, to a playful and delicate young girl. Ultimately, he did justice to every single character involved in the story.

The play ends with a twist that will throw you off-guard if you’re not familiar with the novel. We’ll just say that someone else was supposed to take the bullet, and keep it at that.

While that won’t rank as the greatest surprise of all time, frankly, that unexpected outcome,  coupled with how it strongly conveys the lessons of how there’s nothing to gain, but everything to lose in a war, makes Private Peaceful a poignant and important story for everyone, whatever your age, to watch.