‘Letters to the Living, Songs to the Dead’

19 May 2024

The rain held off on Saturday, July 19, for an experimental sharing of ‘Letters to the Dead, Songs to the Living’, a work in progress by Wimborne Community Theatre group and school children from Allenbourn School in a secret Forest Garden site. This was the result of a series of creative sessions over the last six months, led by Claire Raftery and Damian Wright, of Periplum, funded by BBC Performing Arts Grant. The audience watched as a soldier, recovering from shell shock, wandered into the secret garden where he encountered a group of children doing their bit for the war effort. . . Audience members were asked to give feedback:

'Lovely to see such a mix of ages working together.’ ‘Atmosphere and setting was appropriate to give a feeling of WW1.’ ‘Community theatre at its best.’ ‘I was genuinely drawn into the performance.’ 'Interesting how the research emerged.’

Watch this space for how we develop this project.