New Wilfred Owen play to hit the stage

The play 'A Dream of Wilfred Owen', about the extraordinary life of the Oswestry-born Great War poet, will make a welcome return to Liverpool's St Georges Hall this March, after its first performance in October 2014 entranced audiences.

Written by Merseyside journalist David Charters, the story is told from the perspective of Wilfred's ghost who takes the audience on a journey back to the time of World War One.

The play follows real and imagined events in Owen's life, from growing up in Birkenhead where his father, Tom, was master of the busy Woodside railway station, to his own war experiences in the trenches.

Playwright Charters has been a journalist for almost 50 years, including 25 years as a columnist for the old Liverpool Daily Post. He now writes the Bard of Birkenhead column, which appears in the Wirral edition of the Liverpool Echo every Friday.

Not only has David written the play, he will also be playing the part of Wilfred's ghost in the 90-minute play.

He will be joined on stage by the narrator, actor John Gorman, and singer Lucy Mayhew.

Mr Charters said: "We are honoured and thrilled to be returning to such a wonderful venue by public demand. The performance will last a little longer this time with a slightly extended script with more Owen poems.

"The songs to be sung by Lucy have been chosen because they are sympathetic to the mood of the play. In addition to those from the war, there will be the beautiful spiritual, Steal Away, and the traditional song, Scarborough Fair, ties with Owen's short time there.

"Last year there were many commemorations for the 100th anniversary of the war starting, but we must not forget that it lasted until November 1918 when Owen was killed. We are still in the period of commemoration.

"Some of the events in the play are imagined, but I believe them to be true to the poet's spirit."

Wilfred Owen enjoyed a privileged birth into a well-to-do Oswestry family in 1893, but the family lost everything and relocated to Birkenhead in 1900.

He enlisted in the British Army in 1915 but most of his work was written while serving in France between August 1917 and September 1918.

He was killed trying to cross a canal a week before the end of the war in 1918. He was 25 years old.

His best known poem, Dulce et Decorum Est, like most of his work, was published after his death.

A Dream of Wilfred Owen returns to St George's Hall on March 13 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £10 and are on sale now.