WWI may be the backdrop for this piece, but it's becoming clearer and clearer that what it is really about is love. Love in all its guises. Love at first sight, love that lasts, love that triumphs over betrayal, love that doesn't, love that is requited, and love that isn't, love that forgives, love that doesn't. Love that endures through all sorts of obstacles. Separation, war, uncertainty, ageing, death.
With only a couple of weeks to go it's time to re-find the emotional heart of this piece. Hopefully the work we've done on the text will remain ingrained in the actors. We now have to forget about all of that and concentrate once more on the emotional lives of these people and the world they now find themselves in. We need to up the stakes for them. These are big emotions, not idle musings.
The words need to be given to another person, not merely spoken well or recited as poetry.