Is it hard to find light-hearted moments amid the dark history?
In any situation like that there are ridiculous moments – people were court -martialed for ludicrous reasons. We show an incident when a soldier used his rifle to trip the enemy up as he was trying to carry his wounded friend away. He was court -martialed because, despite the reason he gave for doing it, he discarded his gun in the face of the enemy. It highlights all the absurdities that happen in war and both shows are poignant at the end. So can children handle more than we give them credit for? We always underestimate what children are capable of understanding, enjoying and finding interesting. There is a lot of rubbish in theatre at the moment, puerile stuff like High School Musical. It is very enjoyable but it won’t test or challenge anybody. Horrible Histories: Frightful First World War and Woeful Second World War, Richmond Theatre, June 23-27, visit ambassadortickets.com/ richmond or call 0844 871 765.
