Echoes Of The First World War, Theatre And Interactive Review. St George’s Hall, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The sound of the Last Post forever plays each night as the sun goes down over a French field, paid for by a man who lost his son to a futile, inexcusable war and who signed a parchment called Common Form there by exonerating the Army and The Government for any injuries or deaths that might occur to those too young or seen to be too disabled once they got to the trenches.

A soldier in a perfectly creased uniform greets you. The taste of mechanised warfare invisibly hangs in the air and the memories of events that unfolded a hundred years ago, of an assassination of a member of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the call to arms as Europe descended into blackness. Words, the most powerful spoken are no match for a bullet already speeding its way to its target and yet renowned Liverpool historian brings the power of words to the front line as Echoes of World War One bounce off the walls of St George’s Hall like stray projectiles, each one given the visitor on the tour the realisation that no matter what they believe they know about the great injustice, there is always something new to find out.

The haunting words of Rudyard Kipling’s poem Common Form were captured with great solemnity by Liverpool’s historical beating heart Frank Carlyle. After making the way past scenes and images of the Great War, he spoke gently and the the ghosts of history felt as if they were emerging through long since ploughed over fields, the screams of boys calling out for their mother and the image of Liverpool’s was hero Noel Godfrey Chavasse V.C, M.C and Bar lifting a young lad to safety filtered through the modern senses of all inside the catacombs of St. George’s Hall. “If any questions why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied.” It was a stirring, poignant end to a superb and educationally important hour.

The stories, the lives of some of those who fought for King and country with the promise that by Christmas they would be home having won victory and be proud in having done their bit are remembered in this outstanding presentation set up by Dr. Frank Carlyle and local acting legend Jake Abraham.

The journey is not just informative but should be seen as required viewing, of hearing the words of some of the local men who died in a foreign field that is forever stained with innocent blood, of the poets, of heroes and the ghosts that point to the fact we are only ever one bullet away from seeing it all happen again.

Performances are approximately 45 minutes in lengths. Times of performance are at 6pm, 7pm, 8pm and 9pm. Tickets are priced at £15. Purchase in person at TicketQuarter, Queen Square, Liverpool, online at www.ticketquarter.co.uk or on 0844 800 0410.

Ian D. Hall