The Accrington Pals

By Peter Whelan and directed by Ken Spencer

Performed at the Maskers Studio Emsworth Road Southampton from 29th October to 3rd November, 2007

Director’s Notes

The First World War created the modern world. A conflict of unparalleled ferocity which extended far beyond its European epicentre, it destroyed the century of relative peace and prosperity which we associate with the Victorian era and unleashed the demons of the twentieth century - pestilence, military destruction and mass death. The ideas it spawned continue to shape our world today - modernism in the arts, new approaches to psychology and medicine, and radical thinking about economics and society.

Peter Whelan’s lyrical, absorbing play, premiered by the RSC, is set in Accrington during 1914-16. The ‘Pals’ are the men from the local volunteer battalion who march high-spiritedly off to the Great War with their experiences in the trenches contrasted with those of the women left behind.

At times funny, at times sad, it paints a moving and powerful picture of the changes in civilian life during wartime.

Ken Spencer

The Cast in order of appearance

Production Team