Poignant reflection on west coast war

THE THREE Wee Crows Theatre Company remembered the 1914-18 war in its performance in Ardrishaig Public Hall on Saturday May 19, courtesy of Mid Argyll Arts Association.

The play ‘Home Fires, Broken Sons’, written for the WWI centenary year, is a carefully researched and constructed piece based on the words of people at the time from letters, diaries, poems, songs, contemporary news reports, minutes of local council meetings and true stories from west coast communities.

Even the important role of Scots doctors and nurses in Serbia was covered, as well as the work of Mount Stuart on Bute as a hospital for convalescent servicemen. The result is a fascinating, thought provoking, powerful and emotional show. Indeed some found tears being surreptitiously wiped away as the performance flowed with deceptive ease and simplicity through lighter moments that then dropped to darker cameos and deeper questions.

Archive photographs and posters, including letters, were projected on a screen to accompany the action, all equally carefully selected and appropriate. Live music and song, some involving the audience singing along with the actors, kept up the pace.

The company must be congratulated for its work. We were lucky to have experienced a dramatic performance of such high calibre. It was a pity so many other events were on the same day which meant the audience was reduced in numbers, though definitely not in appreciation.