Verity Standen

This Spring, during the centenary of the First World War, composer Verity Standen creates a new immersive, choral experience at three sites of historic significance in the stories of conscientious objection.

St Helens will host one of these events as the home town of school teacher Ernest Everett, who was arrested for refusing to undertake combative service in 1916.

He was court-martialled and sentenced to two years of hard labour, the first conscientious objector to receive such a sentence.

Over the next few years, he was sentenced seven more times. In Refrain, Everett’s story, symbolic of many more cases of this kind, is given a voice once again.

REFRAIN will be a roaming performance which will move across various historical sites in the George Street Quarter of the town centre, including the oldest building in St Helens; the Friends Meeting House.

Local males from all walks of life who have volunteered to sing in this work are meeting regularly to explore their voices and the issues surrounding conscientious objection.

There will be indoor and outdoor sections to explore throughout allowing the audience to walk through the singers discovering different sounds and voices as they do. All ages are welcome.

Artist Verity Standen, said: “I am thrilled to be working with such a diverse range of the voice – men drawn from all walks of life. I try to leave room for the performers take the music their own direction within the compositions I’m writing. I expect the piece to sound and feel totally different in each location, as it will be shaped by the local singers, the architecture and history of each site, and each audience who will explore it in a different way.”

Please see veritystanden.com/refrain.php for more information.