A new play will be premiered on the Isle of Man next week, created to mark 100 years since the First World War came to and end.

For the Fallen has been produced in conjunction with the Isle of Man Arts Council, and was commissioned to commemorate the island’s involvement in the Great War.

Specifically, the play focuses on the lives of the people on the island who were left behind while their family members were sent to fight.

The play is told retrospectively, and begins in the present day, when a brother and sister, David and Sarah, find a bundle of letters from the time of the war belonging to their parents, that show the effects that the war had on them, as well as their friends and families.

The stories contained in the letters are dramatised and come to life.

The play has been created by John Young, who put together an entirely local cast, including Stephanie Gray, Lyndsey Quayle, Shane Lucas, Christian Cooper and Helen McKenna, and who wanted to keep a close, community feel for the play.

’I wrote this play myself, as well as producing and directing it,’ said John, who has produced many pieces of theatre on the Manx stages before.

’But it became quite a collaborative effort, as a lot the cast came up with their own ideas during the rehearsals, where they thought some lines didn’t work, or they thought other lines would work better.

’This is the premier performance of the play, and the great thing about producing a play for the very first time is that it can be more open to new ideas and others getting involved.

’The exciting thing is that the cast do get involved, and you don’t know how the play will turn out.

’The cast have all given their time and worked so hard on this production.

’We have around 17 actors, aged between 16 and 77, and we have all been working on this production for over a year and a half now.

’They have really thrown themselves into the roles in this play, and hopefully all that hard work will go to create a very exciting theatrical experience for people to enjoy.’

John has designed the play to be performed ’in the round’, which means that the audience will encircle the actors.

’I don’t think a play has been performed like that at the Ballakermeen theatre before,’ he said.

’It is not a very long piece of theatre, and is all performed in one act, so it isn’t an overly long experience.

’But I hope that it should make a very informal theatre experience for many people, and also one that is also very entertaining, whilst paying respects to that period.’

For the Fallen takes place from Tuesday 24 to Saturday 28, April, from 7pm at the Ballakermeen Theatre.

Tickets are £10, and are available from the ’For The Fallen’ Facebook page.

by Mike Wade

twitter:@iomnewspapers