In Tom Stoppard’s funnny and poignant translation of Gérald Sibleyras’s Les Vents des Peupliers (The Wind in the Poplars), we meet three veterans from the First World War who pass their monotony-filled days in a hospital by engaging in verbal battles of long-forgotten military campaigns, grumblings about the matron, and reflections on their life. Henri is afflicted by a gammy leg, Gustave suffers from agoraphobia, and Philippe passes out because of a piece of shrapnel lodged in his brain.

 

Their cantankerous camaraderie becomes strained when Gustave conjures up an escape plan. Looking over the cemetery to the poplars beyond, they dream of freedom. Will today be the day they finally make to Indochina or perhaps only as far as the top of the hill?