The future comes for us all eventually. No matter how many times we have fought the good fight. So on the morning of September 1838, the HMS Temeraire, known as the ‘Fighting Temeraire’, was towed down the Thames to her final destination. On that day the artist William Turner looked upon the scene and immortalised it in what was later to become the nation’s favourite painting.
During World War Two, Portugal remained neutral. Many of the people who found themselves there had little choice as to where they might live, work or even survive. Among those who had had little choice, was Alexander Alekhine, the World Chess Champion.
Alexander is a man looking for a life away from sitting alone in his hotel room, with nothing but a chess board on a table and dinner in his lap. He is looking for inspiration, looking for his muse and ultimately; a way to return to his previous glory. Perhaps he has found it…?
A pigeon race, as every fancier knows, begins with a basket. But with a hundred different finish lines, each one a backyard loft, when does a pigeon race end?
In 1913, Charlie Hudson entered one of his pigeons in a race from Rome to England. On the day of the big race a storm blew in and a thousand birds were swept away and never seen again. Apart from one…
We all knew the commander wanted medals. But us? All we wanted was to be in our homes, in front of the telly. We knew he wanted recognition, but was it really worth another pointless Argentine death on your hands? Back home, if one teenager is killed it’ll probably make the headlines. Over here; for us? It’s just another day at the office. How much blood has to be spilled before this thing ends?
‘Fractured Lives’ explores how the First World War literally fractured lives. The war’s many casualties were not just amongst the dead. There were the men maimed and disabled with scars that would blight the rest of their lives. The play also has resonance for the present day, as wars and international conflicts continue to fracture lives, leaving scars and injuries that can last a lifetime. Today men still return from war’s ‘theatre’ to play out new roles that they have not chosen.