Even if you have not read the book, it is fair to assume from the start of All Quiet on the Western Front that a play about a group of German soldiers in the First World War is not going to end with japes and a wedding.

The ensemble cast do an excellent job, convincingly playing a variety of characters with conviction and thought, effing and blinding their way through, and sounding just like a bunch of British soldiers: no doubt a poignant parallel. The staging itself is less convincing, resembling more of an industrial steel factory than the mud and destruction of the frontline trenches; although the sound of steel smashing against steel to create the sound of artillery fire is an excellent touch as is the cast’s use of props to create different environments. Their ability to work as a sharp and fluid whole is the most stand-out element of the production; James Alexandrou, playing main protagonist Paul Baumer, has a performance that goes through peaks and troughs in proficiency and at times he rushes through lines with little commitment. At other moments, however, such as when cradling an English soldier that he has knifed to death, upon returning home on leave, his performance is achingly real, bringing out the torment and guilt of an 18 year-old solider trying to deal with the bloodshed and madness surrounding him.

There is no escaping from the ever-present feeling that this is a book that has been adapted for the stage. Baumer constantly narrates to the audience and the action moves at a pace that at times is almost disorientating. First World War dramas written specifically for the stage, for example Sherriff’s Journey’s End, can be more satisfying in certain ways as they do not bear the task of encompassing the same breadth of material as a novel is capable of; but this adaptation remains faithful to the original material and gives more of a general sense of the mercilessly random nature of war. By the end the sense of loss is tangible, due in part to the audience’s knowledge of the reality behind the events and also due to an affecting, if flawed, production.