WW1 Commemoration Play

Friday and Saturday evening last week saw the presentation of a play written by Margaret Watkins, telling the story of Haddenham Village School during the period of the First World War. It drew capacity crowds on both evenings, and made for an entertaining yet poignant and emotional experience.

The action was based on research Margaret has done on the original log books of St Mary's Church of England School. All the characters in the play were Haddenham teachers, pupils or villagers whose lives were recorded in daily log entries by the Headmaster, Mr Moss during the four years of the war and we found out what happened to them subsequently.

The cast and contributors drew on a wide range of local residents, aged from 5 to 95 years of age!

Alan Rose, from the Haddenham Museum Trust, had this to say about the presentations:

"Margaret Watkins is to be congratulated on staging such a wonderful village event. It was a lovely atmosphere in the church and everyone was moved by the whole experience.

There was a great local cast and they all performed exceptionally well, from the youngest to the most mature. And the music and the choir set the mood for the scenes so well.

It was clever to make use of the whole of the church, with scenes enacted in the centre and in the aisles. It worked so successfully and increased the feeling of involvement.

One has to be full of admiration for the multiple talents that Margaret deployed to make everything happen, from the original novel idea right through to harnessing the skill of the actors and all the many helpers.

Many people and organisations helped to bring about the success of the project but it took exceptional drive to manage so many aspects and to keep everyone together.

Our warmest congratulations and thanks go to Margaret and all her team."

Many more photographs from the Saturday presentation can be viewed in the GALLERIES section of this website.