THE glory of war is patriotism’s cruellest trick. Tolstoy’s Prince Andrey knew it was "the vilest thing", whose aims are murder, treachery and destruction. Nothing could ever justify it - neither the courage it requires nor the literature, music, poetry or painting inspired by the nearness or inevitability of death.
Some of this was presented to a silent and emotional audience in a moving evening at the New Venture Theatre (NVT).
Our Sons As Well comprised readings of poetry and prose to commemorate the Great War.
Three acts illustrated pressure on conscience, bloodstained consequences and memories of conflict.
Actors from the company read familiar poems by Masefield, Kipling, Edward Thomas, Brooke, Wilfred Owen, Sassoon and Yates as well as lesser-known work by Vanessa Gebbie and strikingly personal letters and memories from war widow Kitty, German artist Kathe Kollwitz, VAD driver Alice, Private Dolly and Debz Sebborn among others.
Extra dimensions were added by film clips of bayonet training (aim for the throat or kidneys), The Actually Gay Men’s Chorus with soprano Samantha Howard, Elgar’s Nimrod from the Enigma Variations and an extract from upcoming NVT war play How Many Miles To Babylon.
Gerry McCrudden introduced the performance which should make conscientious objectors of us all.
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