POETRY RECORDINGS BY BIRDSONG CAST RELEASED TO MARK THE ARMISTICE DAY COMMEMORATIONS AND THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION.
Three lead cast members from the acclaimed stage tour of the epic First World War story of love and loss BIRDSONG have recorded poignant on-stage video readings of war poems chosen by the celebrated novel’s author, Sebastian Faulks.
They are being released ahead of the production appearing at Theatre Royal Brighton Tue 4 – Sat 8 Feb in the run-up to the nation’s Armistice Day commemorations, in support of the production’s partnership with the Royal British Legion and its annual Poppy Appeal.
James Esler reads Wilfrid Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth with After The Battle by A.P. Herbert delivered by Charlie Russell and Max Bowden sharing Flanders Fields by John McCrae.
Watch the videos on Original Theatre’s YouTube channel.
BIRDSONG’S partnership with the Royal British Legion includes fundraising collections and a foyer presence when it arrives in Bucks next year. Earlier this year, Max Bowden with Birdsong cast member and musical director James Findlay released their version of the traditional folk song I Would That All The Wars They Were Over, released to tie in with the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. The single can be streamed across all major digital music platforms, with a percentage of profits going to the Royal British Legion.
Sebastian Faulks’s BIRDSONG, which tells the story of one man’s journey through an all-consuming love affair and into the horror of the First World War, is adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and directed by Original Theatre’s Artistic Director, Alastair Whatley. This brand-new production marks the 30th anniversary of Sebastian Faulks’s international best-selling novel.
In pre-war France, a young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire that turns their world upside down. As the war breaks out over the idyll of his former life, Stephen must lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and through the sprawling tunnels that lie deep underground. Faced with the unprecedented horror of the war, Stephen clings to the memory of Isabelle as his world explodes around him.
★★★★★ “Hauntingly beautiful.” The Recs
★★★★ “Passionate and moving.” Reviews Hub
Max Bowden (EastEnders) will play Jack Firebrace, and James Esler (Litvinenko) will play Stephen Wraysford alongside Charlie Russell (The Goes Wrong Show, And Then There Were None (BBC)) as Isabelle Azaire. They are joined by Joseph Benjamin Baker as Evans/Levi, Raif Clarke as Tipper, James Findlay as Brennan, Dave Fishley as Turner, Gracie Follows as Lisette, Sulin Hasso as Marguerite, Tama Phethean as Shaw/LeBrun, Natalie Radmall-Quirke as Jeanne, Roger Ringrose as Bérard/Barclay and Sargon Yelda as René Azaire/Gray.
BIRDSONG will play Theatre Royal Brighton from Tue 4 Feb – Sat 8 Feb 2025. Tickets can be purchased at ATGtickets.com/Brighton.
