During the project, each participant created a character, researching their 'backstory' and then writing a letter home to their loved one as that character. These letters were used as part of the performances in March 2014. The letters are included here for you to have a listen, and also can be accessed at the RRF museum as part of our project exhibition.
Monday, 12 May 2014
Thursday, 10 April 2014
A view of the project from a participant
Back in November 2013, I replied to an email which was
forwarded to me regarding The Chocolate Soldiers project - A Heritage Theatre
Project on World War 1.
Initially, I wasn't sure what to expect, but excitedly
attended the first session back in November. This gave me a chance to find out
more about the project, what was involved, the dates I needed to be available,
as well as meeting other participants on the project.
Overall, my experience has been absolutely wonderful! I've
thoroughly enjoyed being part of the project. As well as learning about the First
World War, I've had the opportunity to watch War Horse (TWICE), got to meet
other students from Queensbridge School, Elmhurst School of Dance, & Moseley
School, I've built on my confidence, and Oral Skills.
Being part of this project has enabled me to go out of my
comfort zone and do something I previously hadn't done – theatre. It's enabled me to broaden my horizons, work
with new people, try a new experience, make new friends, and build on my skills
too!
I've thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and it's certainly
been one of my memorable experiences of 2014!
Looking back now, my initial doubts, fears, and misconceptions have been
quashed. I'm so glad I was part of this
amazing project.
Production photos - Sunday 30 March
Janice introduces the project and production to the audience
The recruitment scene
The audience line up for their march to the Drill Hall site
Families say goodbye to their 'loved ones'
The recruits are waved off with flags and singing
The Sergeant puts the recruits through their paces
The boys write their letters home
A last minute talk
The night before the battle
Going over the top
The audience see who has returned, and in what state
White roses (for peace) are given to all the female audience members
- it's Mothers Day!
The Performance - Sunday 30 March
(written by Shabraz - project participant)
The day of the performance itself began with a dry run,
before the big shows at 2:00pm & 4:00pm. Nerves were kicking in, for me and
the other members, but one thing is for sure, we were going to seize the moment
and grab this opportunity with both hands!
After the final practices had been done, we moved to the
Foyer where the performance began. World War I music began as the boys
descended down the stairs, imitating a group of young lads from the war era,
who were getting ready to sign up.
Minutes later, a very attractive looking lady by the name of
Frankie comes down the stairs, with a man on her arm, much to the delight of
these young boys, who erupt in cheers!
The lads were then asked to sign up for the army as their
country needed them and it was a duty that was expected. As they signed up they
were given the kings shilling, congratulated, and made their way back into the
line. The audience were then asked to line up, as if they were signing up too (actually
giving the boys a chance to assemble in the car park!) and then they were led out.
In the Thorp Street car park, (the old Drill Hall site), each
spectator was handed an ID card with a boy’s details on - we had to find him,
hand him a good luck charm, and say our final goodbyes.
Once every boy had been found and families had said their
farewells, the boys made a line and marched back into the Hippodrome’s Patrick Centre
studio to prepare for war. The audience followed
them and upon arrival, saw the soldiers being instructed by the Sergeant, and
then writing letters to their loved ones.
To lighten the sombre mood, the lads put on an entertainment
show which featured a magician, jugglers & tap dancers, much to the delight
of the audience.
As the war began, all non combatants were asked to leave the
theatre of war and escorted back to the foyer, where they saw the lads come
back from the War injured.
The performance received rave reviews from the audiences,
which delighted all those involved.
Monday, 31 March 2014
Rehearsal - Monday 17 March 2014
The group worked on the concert party scene during this
evening’s rehearsal. There are lots of
talented boys in the performance (pianists, dancers, magicians and comperes)
and a lot of fun was had trying to organise individual performances into a
coherent scene. We think we’ve got it
now – there’s just some practice needed!
As was the norm in ‘behind the lines’ parties, ours will close with toasts to the army, and a unison singing of ‘God Save the King’.
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Rehearsal - Monday 10 March 2014
Yet another thought-provoking session as we came together at the Hippodrome rehearsal
space. The group of young men drew their attention to the 'drill' scene to be performed in the
car park opposite the theatre on
Throp Street. In previous years this building was the old Drill Hall where army
ranks used to train and information about this historic building will be included in the scene. In order for this to be performed 'on site', the audience as
well as the actors will need to get to the car park. The boys were faced with the
question of 'how?' To find out how they resolved the issue, come along to the performance!
W&T Artistic Director Janice Connolly also asked the boys to think about the trenches, focusing on how the soldiers slept and the conditions that all soldiers involved in WWI had to endure - whichever country they were from. With a wealth of different languages between the group (Greek to French, Russian to Japanese), the boys decided to integrate these within a 'dream scene' to capture the similarity between soldiers of all nationalities.
Monday, 10 March 2014
First rehearsal - Monday 3 March
On Monday 3 March the
group met at the Hippodrome to begin the devising process of The Chocolate Soldiers.
There were lots of creative ideas flowing as the boys worked on the opening
scene in the foyer area at the Hippodrome, showing the recruitment of the young
boys from Birmingham. We’ve also been
choosing music for the performance - volunteer Frankie found the perfect note
singing the song ‘Your King and Country’ with some of the lads joining in as
well. The recruiting officer’s speech sounded great and we’re working on adding
a layer of audience participation with the distribution of both anti and pro war
flyers. There was much fun and laughter in
the session along with a sense of ‘getting the show on the road.’ A great start
to rehearsals.
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Research session at Birmingham Hippodrome continued
And finally here we are: the general public responded to our callout and a number of local historians, archivists and family members came and talked to us about their memories and stories linked to WWI. It was an astonishing day, and we are extremely grateful to all those who came to this session, or who contacted us by email or phone with information.
At the end of the session the group sat round to discuss their experiences. The general consensus was that it had been a huge success and the boys had really enjoyed both interviewing, and finding out so much information about WWI in general, and the soldiers who fought in it.
Research session at Birmingham Hippodrome continued...
A quick break from interviewing and some ideas for the production perhaps?
And time for some final creative scenes before the general public arrive...
Research session with Izzy Mohammed - Birmingham Hippodrome - December 2013
Here the boys practice their new interview skills which were to become very useful during the session later that day with the general public ...
And Janice has a quick talk with them about their character's 'back-story' while there's a break in the action...
Research session - 11 December 2013 - Carpenter Place residential home
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Visit to the memorial chapel, Warwick
We could not leave Warwick without visiting the memorial chapel at Saint Mary's Church and paying our respects to those who had laid down their lives.
RRF museum visit continued....
Stephanie Bennett (curator at the RRF museum) had kindly arranged for re-enactor Paul Thomson to come along to the session. Paul inspired the boys with his "day in the life of a WWI soldier". He brought in some objects from the period for the boys to handle...
....which we think they rather enjoyed!!
At the end of the day we got the boys started on some 'drill', under the watchful eye of actor and support artist Greg Hobbs, an ex-soldier himself. We see it as a good step towards our production - what do you think?!
Visit to the Royal Regimental Fusiliers (Royal Warwicshire) musem, Warwick - November 2013
In November we visited the RRF museum (Royal Warwickshire) in Warwick to learn more about the living conditions of the soldiers fighting in the First World War. The participants were asked to develop emotion graphs which emphasize the feeling of the soldiers during the Great War and to gather data from different media (notebooks, diaries, newspapers, etc) in order to create complete biographies of soldiers.
They also got to try on some of the uniforms!
(modelled on the right by our Romanian placement student, Andrada!)
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