WWI CENTENARY: BRINGING OUR HISTORY TO LIFE WITH PEPPER'S GHOST
Local history becomes local drama this coming week, when Pepper's Ghost Theatre Company deliver two stories based on the letters and diary entries made during WWI.
The plays, Your Loving Brother Albert, and Nellie, will give a poignant, real account of the lives of some of those who lived in these parts a century ago.
Your Loving Brother Albert was first performed in Stantonbury Drama Studio in 1980.
The play has been derived from the regular letters sent home by Private Albert French (below) to his sister May.
Albert lived in the former Young Street in Wolverton - now Glyn Square - and wrote to his sister when he joined the army in 1915 until his death in the trenches - just a week before his seventeenth birthday...
Nellie Abbey (nee Smith) was a remarkable figure in the area, and well known for organising the huge Whitsun Fetes in New Bradwell.
Nellie (above) passed away in 1982, at the ripe old age of 98. Her story is told using the diaries she kept between 1901 and 1920.
"Pepper's Ghost was approached by Wolverton and Greenleys Council in 2013 to produce these plays for the centenary. The council were planning a series of events to mark the centenary and particularly wanted to have these plays performed in Wolverton as they are both about local people," producer Rosemary Hill told Total MK.
"Naturally we were very honoured to be asked. I have known about these plays for years, the first time they were performed was in 1980, so I didn't see the original productions as I only moved here in 1989.
"I have always been interested in them though as I have worked with both Roy Nevitt and Roger Kitchen who devised them. Shahnaz Hussain, our musical director, was also in the original productions, as was musician Brad Bradstock."
Rosemary also has a personal connection with WWI history: "My father, like Albert, lied about his age to join up, as may did. My father was only 15 and survived, unlike Albert, but he was an invalid for the rest of his life. He was also a man with a violent temper," she recalls.
"Looking back, we would say now he was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but it wasn't recognised then. He never ever talked about the war."
Pepper's Ghost has a cracking cast ready to do justice to the work, and with particular authenticity: "The young actor playing Albert is only 16, just like he was, and we have other young people in both plays," Rosemary explained.
"Casting actors of the same age really brings it home to people what everyone went through at that time. I also think local history makes it so much more pertinent and poignant.
"The songs are very beautiful and mention local streets and again remind us of the people at the front but how people also coped at home."
Radcliffe School, Aylesbury Street, Wolverton is the hosting venue, and financial assistance has been provided by Wolverton and Greenleys Council, and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It's not surprising that tickets are selling with haste - extra seats have already been added, and are being snapped up.
Performances start on Wednesday (Nov 12) and carry through nightly at 7.30pm, until November 15, with an additional matinee on Saturday at 2.30pm.
Tickets are on sale at £12 and £10 (conc). Call the box office on 01908 561627.
Albert lived in the former Young Street in Wolverton - now Glyn Square - and wrote to his sister when he joined the army in 1915 until his death in the trenches - just a week before his seventeenth birthday...
Nellie Abbey (nee Smith) was a remarkable figure in the area, and well known for organising the huge Whitsun Fetes in New Bradwell.
Nellie (above) passed away in 1982, at the ripe old age of 98. Her story is told using the diaries she kept between 1901 and 1920.
"Pepper's Ghost was approached by Wolverton and Greenleys Council in 2013 to produce these plays for the centenary. The council were planning a series of events to mark the centenary and particularly wanted to have these plays performed in Wolverton as they are both about local people," producer Rosemary Hill told Total MK.
"Naturally we were very honoured to be asked. I have known about these plays for years, the first time they were performed was in 1980, so I didn't see the original productions as I only moved here in 1989.
"I have always been interested in them though as I have worked with both Roy Nevitt and Roger Kitchen who devised them. Shahnaz Hussain, our musical director, was also in the original productions, as was musician Brad Bradstock."
Rosemary also has a personal connection with WWI history: "My father, like Albert, lied about his age to join up, as may did. My father was only 15 and survived, unlike Albert, but he was an invalid for the rest of his life. He was also a man with a violent temper," she recalls.
"Looking back, we would say now he was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but it wasn't recognised then. He never ever talked about the war."
Pepper's Ghost has a cracking cast ready to do justice to the work, and with particular authenticity: "The young actor playing Albert is only 16, just like he was, and we have other young people in both plays," Rosemary explained.
"Casting actors of the same age really brings it home to people what everyone went through at that time. I also think local history makes it so much more pertinent and poignant.
"The songs are very beautiful and mention local streets and again remind us of the people at the front but how people also coped at home."
Radcliffe School, Aylesbury Street, Wolverton is the hosting venue, and financial assistance has been provided by Wolverton and Greenleys Council, and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It's not surprising that tickets are selling with haste - extra seats have already been added, and are being snapped up.
