On Wednesday September 13th, Year 5 pupils from Christchurch Academy in Stone will perform the story of two young Stone boys who signed up for active duty in the Great War, both of whom were underage and were killed in action.
Local Stone historian Steve Booth researched the two boys who were pupils of Christchurch School and their story will be told in the Imagineer production War Bride.
Pupils will create their own costumes in workshops and later will give one performance at school and in the afternoon at 4pm there will be a procession from Granville Square down Stone High Street to St Michael’s Church where they will perform in the open in the church yard.
The War Bride production, designed by costume designer Anna Lewis is both a theatre performance and a piece of moving visual art.
Themes explored in the workshops include underage recruits, food shortages, miners on the Western Front, the military training camps on Cannock Chase, nurses and the changing role of women during the war.
Staffordshire County Council’s Archives & Heritage Service will be working with Imagineer Productions to bring the event to the county following a successful bid to Arts Council England.
“This is a great production that will give young people a unique insight into the First World War and its impact on people’s lives. It’s important that young people know about WWI and what legacy it had on local communities. I’m sure the performances will be very popular and we would encourage people to get booked early and come along.”
