Cloud Nine Theatre

Cloud Nine Theatre Company in association with Northumbria World War One Commemoration Project presents Death at Dawn - The Life and death of North Shields soldier William Hunter written by Peter Mortimer & Directed by Neil Armstrong.

Based on the real-life story of William Hunter, the young North Shields soldier executed for desertion in France in 1916, Death at Dawn tackles head-on the subject of an army which shoots its own men.

A controversial, dramatic and fast-moving play set in North Shields, Liverpool, Canada and the Western Front, Death at Dawn is performed by an integrated cast of professional actors and drama students of roughly Hunter’s age.

The play raises questions about the effects of trench warfare on young, inexperienced soldiers and the thorny subject of an army shooting its own men. It is a shocking tale but also a love story. There is humour throughout.