Accrington Pals

~~The Grange Players commemorated 100 years since the start of World War 1 with Peter Whelan’s moving play set in the smallest of the towns that formed a ‘pals’ battalion in the First World War. This was Accrington.
The Accrington Pals – or 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington) East Lancashire Regiment – is also distinguished by the dreadful casualties it suffered on the first day of the battle of the Somme in 1916.
Hundreds of brothers, cousins, colleagues and former classmates marched boldly off to war. In the Whelan play, only seven return.
But this play focuses on individuals and not just the men in uniform but the women they left behind.
The main character is May who runs a fruit and veg stall. Phebe Jackson delivered a truly heartfelt performance. She initially comes over as a hard independent character whose relationship with Tom is hard to fathom at first, and it’s only towards the end that a far softer side emerges.
There were fabulous performances throughout from this fine cast, Nathalie Colen is delightful as “Eva” as is Emma Shaw as “Annie”, Katie Arblaster as “Sarah” and Sarah Richards as “Bertha.
The Pals who go to war under the watchful eye of Company Sergeant Major Rivers played by Dan Payne also give realistic and heartfelt performances giving us a glimpse of the horrors faced by some of the 720 young men from Accrington.
Sterling performances from Stephen Arnold as “Tom”, Chris Shaw as “Arthur”, Will Young “Reggie” and Joseph Hicklin as “Ralph”
Once again The Grange Players prove that they can certainly compete with the professionals with this fine performance, together with fabulous, simple but effective sets and lighting adding to the overall quality. They appear to be going from strength to strength.
 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.