![British troops in silhouette march towards trenches near Ypres at the Western Front during the First World War. In the first Battle of Ypres, October 1914, German forces failed to reach the English Channel ports but the Allied counter-attack failed. Poison gas was employed for the first time in April 1915 by the German army at the second Battle of Ypres. The final Battle of Ypres between July-November 1917 results in Allied forces capturing Passchendaele. Ypres, Belgium [?]](https://payhemburyparishcouncil.org.uk/images/misc67.jpg)
In a car-free village centre and on a battlefield-disguised school playing field, an inspired cast gave memorable performances in Tale Valley Community Theatre’s challenging and emotive outdoor autumn production of “They Dream of Home”, directed and written by John Somers, reflecting the lives of two young soldiers, killed during WW1, whose names are on Payhembury memorial. After reading the script, their relatives had given permission for use of the young men’s names in the play.
The young actors who played the central characters – soldiers, 
Bertie (Caius Nicholas) and Tom (Mark Rose), and village girl Gwen (Catherine Davies) – were outstanding in their roles. The battlefield, cleverly re-creating the awfulness of trench warfare without damaging the field’s surface, was an excellent 
representation of ‘the front’, with powerful sound and lighting effects adding to the authenticity of the experience.
With fine weather for the performances, audiences were able to watch the different scenes at close quarters. The finale at the 
memorial brought tears to many onlookers’ eyes, as Gwen touched the engraved name of “her” Bertie, read a postcard message from him and ended the play singing ‘If you were the Only Boy in the World’. The power of unfulfilled love brought Bertie back and they concluded the song together.
Plaudits go to Richard Pulman and Tony Treen for their creative use of palettes,
Jacob Franks as a German Soldier.
camouflage netting and sandbags;
to Duncan Chave for the brilliant battle sound effects and to Assistant Director, Martin Paine for operating the complicated battle sound system.
In complete contrast, TVCT will next be tackling comic theatre. To express an interest contact John Somers at j.w.somers@exeter.ac.uk. The TVCT website is at www.tvctheatre.org
A note from Alan Jones:
I missed this Play, which I understand was very good. Margaret did go, with an old friend from the Midlands, and enjoyed it. Our friend has written to say how much she enjoyed it, and has asked us to publish the following tribute:
“On a recent visit to Payhembury, I was privileged to see a performance of “They dream of home”. It was brilliant! Congratulations to all concerned. To those who did not see it—-you missed a treat.
Pat Hill, Pershore, Worcs.”
