Nottingham Playhouse is to produce its first rural touring show in more than a decade.
Andy Barrett’s new play The Second Minute explores the emotional impact of World War I on the ordinary men who became soldiers and the families they left behind.
Based on letters from the archive of the Sherwood Foresters regiment, this “simply staged, poignant and uplifting show weaves together heroic, comic and heartbreaking tales of soldiers and families through their own words”.
Andy Barrett says, “Sitting in the archives office at Chilwell Barracks and reading through these letters from nearly a century ago, some from men who survived and some from men who didn't, was an incredibly moving and powerful experience.”
The Second Minute explores the devastating impact of modern war, seen through the eyes of Laura who has lost her son in Afghanistan, as well as the effect of a war 100 years ago, told through the use of these real letters.
Nottingham Playhouse’s artistic director Giles Croft who directs reveals, “This play explores the relationship between two central characters, Thomas Swan and Laura. Andy Barrett has fashioned a beautiful and moving play and the relationship between Laura and Tom can hardly fail to move us as his letters touch her heart across the century.”
Barrett continues, “My aim for this piece is to somehow recreate those emotions: to try to allow the audience into the very heart of that moment when a letter arrives and is read for the first time; and to use that to tell a wider story about the impact of the war on the families of those who were waiting for their loved ones to return home safely.”
Beatrice Comins will play Laura; Robert Goll is Alan; and Adam Horvath plays Tom.
The Second Minute tours to Derby Theatre on Saturday (3 May), Thrumpton Village Hall, Nottinghamshire on 7 May, Thoresby Riding Hall Theatre, Nottinghamshire on 8 May, Chilwell Arts Theatre, Nottingham on 9 May, The Theatre, South Nottingham Academy on 10 May, Harworth and Bircotes Town Hall, Nottinghamshire on 11 May, Terry O’Toole Theatre, North Hykeham, Lincolnshire on 15 May, Tennyson d'Eyncourt Memorial Hall, Tealby, Lincolnshire on 16 May, Braunston and Brooke Village Hall, Rutland on 17 May and Century Theatre, Coalville, Leicestershire on 18 May.
The Second Minute will also form part of neat14, the Nottingham European Arts Theatre Festival, and will be performed in the Neville Studio at Nottingham Playhouse on 26 May.
Further dates include The Chase Neighbourhood Centre, St Ann’s, Nottingham on 27 May, Broadway Baptist Church, Derby on 6 June and Gretton Village Hall, Northamptonshire on 7 June.
Further details are available at the Nottingham Playhouse web site.