Birdsong

Trevor Nunn directs Rachel Wagstaff's stage version of Birdsong, the hugely popular First World War novel by Sebastian Faulks. This production at the Comedy Theatre is the first stage version of the book, and Rachel Wagstaff is an appropriate choice to facilitate the transition - her previous work has included an adaptation of Faulks's The Girl at Lion d'Or for BBC Radio 4. A rising star, she has written her own plays The Soldier and Night Sky and has participated in Old Vic New Voices with her work performed at the annual 24 Hour Plays. As the millions of people who have read the book will already know, the play tells the story of an all-consuming love affair set against the horror of the First World War. While staying as the guest of a factory owner in pre-First World War France, Stephen Wraysford embarks on a passionate affair with Isabelle, the wife of his host. The affair changes them both for ever. A few years later Stephen finds himself back in the same part of France, but this time as a soldier facing the horrors of the Battle of the Somme. As men die around him, Stephen turns to his enduring love for Isabelle for the strength to continue.