A Soldier's Song

In 1992, Ken Lukowiak published A Soldier’s Song: True Stories from the Falklands to critical acclaim. In 1998, Guy Masterson’s one-man theatrical adaptation of the book wowed critics and won him a Stage Award nomination for Best Actor. And now, in 2012—which marks the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War—Masterson has revived the show, with Lukowiak himself replacing him as the sole performer.

It’s a simple premise: Lukowiak simply stands on stage and tells us about his experiences as a soldier in the Falklands through flashbacks to fierce fighting at Goose Green. His story doesn’t shy away from the contradictions inherent in being a soldier and a human being; how it feels to want someone dead, but simultaneously to want not to kill them.

There’s no sympathy for the military here, and every opportunity to underline incompetence in the upper ranks is justly taken. But it’s not a sob story either; Lukowiak faces his contrary wartime emotions with courage and honesty and one scene in which he shoots an Argentine soldier after a ceasefire has been called is particularly affecting.

Masterson’s adapted script is first-rate too, exuding raw, gritty humour. But if anything hampers A Soldier’s Song, it’s Lukowiak’s delivery. His ability to re-enact—to essentially re-live—his own experiences in the Falklands is hugely admirable, but his stiff movements and slightly awkward physicality detracts from its potency just a touch. Still, it’s an electrifying piece of writing that shows no sign of losing its relevancy.