The Cotswold Players

The story of a small Gloucestershire community facing the upheaval of the First World War.

Inspired by the remarkable poetry written by the women at home and the men in the trenches, this poignant and yet uplifting play sheds a light on some of the extraordinary experiences these ordinary people lived through.

From the cheerfulness of the men singing as they marched to war, to the awful deliveries of telegrams telling of their fate; from the dawning realisation of the horrors of sniper fire, to the yellowing of women's skins who worked on the shell production line.

This homage to the local community was written especially for the Cotswold Players by Pip Royall, one of their members. Using songs, poetry and a moving story, it commemorates this community's involvement in an event that transformed women’s place in society, disturbed the status quo of social class, and introduced the concept of total war to the world.