Powerful World War One drama comes to the Island

As the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the First World War approaches The Glass Umbrella Theatre Company presents Peter Whelan’s epic and deeply humane play following the story of the young men of Accrington, who on the eve of the ‘Great War’ heed Kitchener’s call for a New Army and jauntily go off to France.

Some 720 men volunteered to form the Accrington Pals.

583 were killed, wounded or reported missing within half an hour during the battle of Serre in 1916.

A chronicle of the terrible waste of war – powerful, funny, intimate and moving. Peter Whelan’s epic, dramatises the lives of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary historical events.

Funny, intimate and moving The Accrington Pals charts the fortunes of a close-knit community on the brink of change.

The brutal reality of the trenches is contrasted with the lives of the women they leave behind, highlighting the social changes the harsh impact of war brings about.

The Glass Umbrella Theatre Company is Northern Ireland’s only student-led company from South Eastern Regional College’s Performing Arts Department.

Founded in 2011, the company was set up to give young people the opportunity to work on full scale productions in a variety of roles, from technical and stage crew to acting on stage.

Tickets priced £10/£8 concession are available by logging onto islandartscentre.com.

Alternatively contact the Island Arts Centre box office on 028 92 509254.