Wilfred Owen play takes to the stage
A play looking at the friendship of two war poets, one from Shropshire, opens next week.
Not about Heroes, by Stephen MacDonald, will be performed at Theatre Clwyd, Mold, from November 7-11.
In 1917 both Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon were patients in Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh.
Owen was suffering from shell-shock. Sassoon, a decorated war hero, was now a public dissenter, totally disillusioned by the futility and catastrophic slaughter of the trenches.
Sassoon survived the war but Owen was killed just one week before the Armistice in November 1918.
His mother, back home in Shropshire, received a telegram notifying her of her son’s death just as the church bells were ringing out to celebrate the cessation of hostilities.
The play tells of Wilfred Owen’s journey to become a war poet, destined for posthumous greatness, through his relationship with Sassoon, their mutual hatred of war and belief in the power of poetry.
The production won a best actor award at the Wales Theatre Awards. It comes to Theatr Clwyd as part of an international tour which opened at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, commemorating the centenary of both the meeting depicted in the play and of the Armistice.
Not About Heroes is performed by Daniel Llewelyn Williams and Iestyn Arwel and directed by Tim Baker.
Tickets are available from Box Office 01352 701521, www.theatrclwyd.com.
