Voices of the First World War: community projects from Birmingham and the Midlands
Exhibition:
Voices of the First World War: community projects from Birmingham and the Midlands
5 October 2018– 5 January 2019, Library of Birmingham
November 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the armistice of the Great War. To commemorate this, the Voices of War & Peace WW1 Engagement Centre and the Library of Birmingham are hosting an exhibition showing the work that has been carried out by regional community organisations since the commemorations began in August 2014. The exhibition will focus on untold stories or new knowledge that has surfaced through the work of communities, which have enriched and added to our knowledge about the First World War.
Highlights include:
- Films produced by local theatre and arts companies that address difficult subjects like the soldiers who were executed for desertion and cowardice
- History of the football teams formed by ‘munitionettes’
- Creative responses to changing attitudes towards disability during and after the war
- Artistic work made by young people who researched the changes in society that came as a result of the war
Events programme:
Saturday 6 October 11.30am-3pm
Indian Community & Identity: From WW1 to today with Believe In Me CIC
Heritage Learning Space, Library of Birmingham
Booking: eventbrite.com/e/indian-community-and-identity-from-first-world-war-to-present-tickets
Saturday 20 October 2-4pm
Stories of Omission: Conflict and the Experience of Black Soldiers event with Recognize Black Heritage & Culture
The Gallery, Library of Birmingham
Booking: eventbrite.co.uk/e/stories-of-omission-conflict-and-the-experience-of-black-soldiers-tickets
Thursday 1 November, 11.30am-12.30pm & 3-4pm
The Play House presents Lest We Forget
The Gallery, Library of Birmingham
Booking: eventbrite.com/e/the-play-house-presents-lest-we-forget-tickets
Thursday 1 November, 7.30-10pm
Remembering the Great War: An Evening of Words and Music
Great Hall, Aston Webb Building, University of Birmingham
More information: birmingham.ac.uk/schools/lcahm/departments/music/events/2018/autumn/remembering-the-great-war
Booking: boxoffice.bham.ac.uk
Saturday 3 November, 4-6pm
AFTERMATH: animations exploring war, conflict and loss by Animate Projects
Centrala, 158 Fazeley Street, Birmingham, B5 5RT
Booking: eventbrite.co.uk/e/aftermath-animations-exploring-war-conflict-and-loss-tickets
Other WW1 events across Birmingham:
Monday 8 October – Saturday 13 October
The Wipers Times
Birmingham Rep
Based on a true story The Wipers Times tells the true and extraordinary story of the satirical newspaper created in the mud and mayhem of the Somme and comes to The REP direct from a record-breaking West End season.
In a bombed out building during the First World War in the Belgian town of Ypres (mis-pronounced Wipers by British soldiers), two officers discover a printing press and create a newspaper for the troops. Far from being a sombre journal about life in the trenches, they produced a resolutely cheerful, subversive and very funny newspaper designed to lift the spirits of the men on the front line.
Defying enemy bombardment, gas attacks and the disapproval of many of the top Brass, The Wipers Times rolled off the press for two years and was an extraordinary tribute to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity.
birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/the-wipers-times
Wednesday 10 October – Saturday 3 November
War Horse
Birmingham Hippodrome
Following eight record-breaking years in London’s West End and having played in 11 countries around the world to over seven million people, the National Theatre’s acclaimed play War Horse returns to Birmingham Hippodrome this October.
At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the Cavalry and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary journey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. Albert, who remained on his parents’ Devon farm, cannot forget Joey. Though still not old enough to enlist he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.
Based on the beloved novel by Michael Morpurgo, this powerfully moving and imaginative drama, filled with stirring music and songs, is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing life-sized horses by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses thrilling to life on stage.
War Horse is an unforgettable theatrical event which takes audiences on an extraordinary journey from the fields of rural Devon to the trenches of First World War France.
birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/war-horse
Saturday 3 November to Saturday 10 November 10am-4pm
Birmingham at War 1914-1918
Oratory Church, Edgbaston
To commemorate the centenary of the end of the war an exhibition of photographs, medals, memorabilia and battlefield relics will be on display at the Oratory Church, Upper Cloister, Hagley Road, Birmingham B16 8UE.
Guided tours for school parties are free of charge but booking required. To book please contact: Norman Bartlam brewusbugle@hotmail.co.uk
For all other enquiries please contact Paul Jaques: paul.jaques@mypostoffice.co.uk
Free admission
Saturday 3 November
Lest We Forget
Genting Arena, NEC
The National Children’s WW1 Remembrance Concert.
Booking: gentingarena.co.uk/whats-on/lest-we-forget
Sunday 4 November
WW1 Commemoration Day
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
To mark the centenary of the armistice that ended World War One, Birmingham Botanical Gardens will be hosting a commemoration event, to include; a live theatre performance (aimed at 5-14 year olds), live music, local history, food and craft stalls, the unveiling of a commemorative poppy collage (created by visiting educational groups) and more.
Further information: https://www.birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk/events/wwi-commemoration-day/
Sunday 11 November 2.30pm
Remembrance Concert
Symphony Hall
The concert includes a celebration of music, art, readings and poetry, culminating in Mozart’s Requiem, one of the most famous choral works in the classical repertoire.
thsh.co.uk/event/remembrance-concert
Sunday 11 November 3pm & 7.30pm
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, When This Lousy War is Over
Town Hall
Commemorating the centenary of The Great War ‘When This Lousy War is Over’ is a funny, musically rewarding, touching, irreverent and thought provoking concert for all ages, giving us a window on the world in 1914-18 through the popular music of the time. This inspirational show carries the Ukulele Orchestra’s trademark humour, originality and passion through stomping marches, early jazz, poignant ballads, catchy melodies and even a touch of Hawaiian music. It reveals that ‘the instrument of the people’, the ukulele, has a place in making this music live again as we remember both comradeship and sorrow. The musical pieces will be framed by a narrative, with stories taken from original war diaries and memoirs written by relatives of the Orchestra. This is a personal show and although the war took place a century ago its reverberations and consequences are still with us all.
The Orchestra is delighted to be working once again with Town Hall Birmingham in touring this work originally commissioned and performed in 2014.
thsh.co.uk/event/the-ukulele-orchestra-of-great-britain-when-this-lousy-war-is-over
Worlds Apart Together
Big Brum Theatre in Education Company tour their final World War One play to schools in the autumn term, which is suitable for Year 5 and 6 at primary schools and all years at secondary schools.
Worlds Apart Together by Chris Cooper is a new play about the death of an old epoch and the birth of a new age, as ordinary working people struggle for equality and autonomy in a country ravaged by four years of total warfare. The play and tour to schools is the fourth part of Big Brum’s ‘End of Reason: 1914-1918’ quartet of work that explores the stories of ordinary men and women forever changed by the First World War.
The first play, ‘Home Front Front Line’ toured to schools in 2014, ‘Sepoy’s Salute’ in 2015 and ‘Over the Top’ in 2016. All three tours received outstanding feedback for their authenticity and impact upon the children and young people who saw the plays and participated in the Theatre in Education programme. The focus on World War One enables Big Brum’s artistic team to explore themes, dilemmas and concepts with young people that are still relevant today, such as home, identity, duty, autonomy and equality.
Worlds Apart Together can be booked as a participatory Theatre in Education programme that combines workshops with live performance for small groups of 30 pupils/students, or as a performance only for larger groups up to entire year groups. Prices start at £350.
For further information please contact Matt at Big Brum on 0121 742 6321 or email: matt@bigbrum.org.uk.
