Heroes

On the terrace of an old soldiers' home, three World War One veterans wile away the day gossiping about the nurses, reminiscing and exasperating one another with harebrained schemes. Gustave suffers from a crippling agoraphobia. Henri is afflicted by a gammy leg. And Philippe periodically passes out because of a piece of shrapnel lodged in his brain. Their querulous and cantankerous camaraderie is tested when Gustave conceives an improbable escape plan that will take them to a distant poplar-lined hill and, perhaps, freedom. Stoppard brings his magnificent wit and his dazzling command of the English language to Sibleyras' moving and mirthful musings on friendship and mortality. Heroes stirs the mind and touches the soul and is bravura theatre at its best. Life-affirming!