An August Bank Holiday Lark

Description

Tomorrow morning, you and Frank Armitage are getting wed. In my opinion, marriage is blind optimism at any time, but especially in wartime. It's an act of faith. Taking its title from a line in Philip Larkin's poem 'MCMXIV', An August Bank Holiday Lark explores the impact of the First World War on a rural community in East Lancashire. Set in the idyllic summer of 1914 rural Lancashire, everyone in the community is excited about Wakes week; a rest from field and mill and a celebration of the Rushbearing Festival with singing, courting, drinking and dancing. The looming war barely registers . . . but it will. Through the lens of traditional rural life, the play follows the stories of the people of the village and witnesses their personal transitions from exuberance to touching naivety as they manage their loss with courage and humanity. An August Bank Holiday Lark received its world premiere on 7 February 2014, in a touring production by Northern Broadsides and New Vic Theatre.

Deborah McAndrew is a British writer and actor whose adaptation of The Bells by Leopold Lewis (Northern Broadsides Theatre Company) opened at the Viaduct, Halifax in 2004. Her first original play, Vacuum, premiered with the same theatre company. Her versions of Nikolai Gogol's A Government Inspector, with the action transplanted to a corrupt Yorkshire hamlet, and The Grand Gesture, adapted from Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide, are published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama.

It is deeply affecting . . . This is popular ensemble theatre in traditions stretching from Moliere to Meyerhold and beyond: vibrant, entertaining and meaningful. * Observer * McAndrew's lyrical, beautifully constructed drama captures the wanderlust of a generation for whom a patriotic war seems fair exchange for a life of parochial tradition. * Guardian * Warm-hearted, poignant drama . . . pays tribute to the long-dead in more than words. * Daily Telegraph * McAndrew delineates a host of characters with dexterity and tenderness, an ear for dialect and much delightful humour. * The Times * Themes [of war] evocatively addressed . . . a deeply moving spectacle helping us peer back into the lost world. * Independent *