Eventually Littlewood considered it might work, but refused any military uniforms, deciding on pierrot costumes from Commedia dell'arte very early on as a "soft, fluffy entertainment mode"[7] providing an ironic contrast to the tin hats which they also wore.

[12] The idea was to portray how groups of people could lose their sense of individuality by conforming to those of a higher authority, which Littlewood despised.

The Theatre Workshop developed productions through improvisation and initially the cast would learn the original script but then have that taken away and have to retell the story in their own words for performance.

[7] Some scenes in the production, notably one on the first time the trenches were gassed, were worked on for many days only for Littlewood to conclude they were too horrific for an audience,[7] and delete them.

The musical premiered at the Theatre Royal Stratford East on 19 March 1963 to rave audience reaction.

It was an ensemble production featuring members of the theatre's regular company, which included Brian Murphy, Victor Spinetti, Glynn Edwards and Larry Dann, all of whom played several roles.

The musical premiered in the United States on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on 30 September 1964 and closed on 16 January 1965 after 125 performances.

[14] [15] The original production was performed with the cast in pierrot costumes and metal helmets due to Littlewood's abhorrence of the colour khaki[7] and anti-war feelings.

Behind them projected slides (operated by projectionist Tom Carr) showed images from the war and a moving display (what Littlewood called her "electronic newspaper" from having seen one in East Berlin on a railway bridge[7]) across the full stage width with statistics, such as "Sept 25 .

German loss nil" and "Average life of a machine gunner under attack on the Western Front: 4 minutes".

Separating the performers from the actual events in this way would stop the audience collapsing in tears,[7] and the production features such World War I-era songs as "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", "Pack up Your Troubles" and "Keep the Home Fires Burning".

Harsh images of war and shocking statistics are projected onto the backdrop, providing a contrast with the comedy of the action taking place before it.

It's a Lovely War" was written by J. P. Long and Maurice Scott in 1917 and was part of the repertoire of music hall star and male impersonator Ella Shields.

[16] The lyrics of the first verse and the chorus are as follows: Up to your waist in water, Up to your eyes in slush – Using the kind of language, That makes the sergeant blush; Who wouldn't join the army?

The 1985 series Anzacs used "Oh, it's a lovely war" as one of the numbers while the credits rolled, had "I wore a tunic" performed as part of an entertainment piece while the characters were on easy duties, used "Keep the home fires burning" as another credit number, and featured "The Bells of Hell" sung by Tony Bonner and Andrew Clarke.