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Wipers Times, The

A stage adaptation of the award-winning BBC film by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.

More information

Description

  • Full Length Play
  • Biography, Drama

  • Time Period: 1910s / WWI
The true and extraordinary story of the satirical newspaper created in the mud and mayhem of the Somme, interspersed with comic sketches and spoofs from the vivid imagination of those on the front line.

In a bombed out building during the First World War in the French town of Ypres (mispronounced Wipers by British soldiers), two officers discover a printing press and create a newspaper for the troops. Far from being a sombre journal about life in the trenches, they produced a resolutely cheerful, subversive and very funny newspaper designed to lift the spirits of the men on the front line.
REVIEWS:

"Laugh-out-loud funny."

 The Times

"An extraordinary true story."

 The Guardian

Premiere Production: The Wipers Times was first presented at The Watermill Theatre on 22nd September, 2016.

Characters

  • Casting: 6M, 1F
  • Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Flexible casting, Expandable casting, Room for Extras

  • CAPTAIN FRED ROBERTS - The charismatic, larger-than-life editor of The Wipers Times. A former mining engineer, he's an adventurer and gambler who's not afraid to laugh at death and poke fun at his superiors while suppressing his true horror at the conduct of war.

  • LIEUTENANT JACK PEARSON - Robert's deputy and sub-editor of The Wipers Times. A laconic foil to the ebullient Roberts, Pearson matches him joke for joke. He has a keen interest in anything alcohol related.

  • SERGEANT TYLER - A former Fleet Street printer who is Roberts's Mr Fixit, becoming publisher of The Wipers Times. Gruff and stern -- but with a dry sense of humour and a passion for printing.

  • PRIVATE DODD - The youngest of Roberts's men and a new arrival to the front line, he has a lot to learn about life in the trenches. He grows up fast.

  • PRIVATE HENDERSON - Worked on tunneling the London Underground before the outbreak of war. His mischievous sense of humour lands him in trouble.

  • PRIVATE BARNES - Henderson's best mate and a former coal miner. His down-to-earth soldiering belies his sensitivity -- and he proves to be a natural poet.

  • GENERAL MITFORD - As Roberts's commanding officer he is a father-figure, and keen supporter and defender of The Wipers Times.

  • LIEUTENANT COLONEL HOWFIELD - Robert's immediate superior who is fiercely opposed to The Wipers Times, and wants it closed down. Lacking any sense of humour, he fails to understand when the joke's on him.

  • KATE ROBERTS - Fred Roberts's wife, a teacher, who keeps the home fires burning while supplying eggs to the Red Cross. She tries to understand the reality of Roberts's painful wartime experiences.

  • DEPUTY EDITOR, DAILY NEWS - Over-worked and over-dramatic, he is unimpressed by wartime exploits largely because he didn't fight.

  • LADY SOMERSBY - Fierce supporter of the Temperance Movement and very close 'friend' of Lloyd George, who wants alcohol banned from the trenches -- much to the horror of those fighting in them.

  • MADAM FIFI - Alluring, seductive hostess who runs the celebrated Fifi's Bar in Ameins, where Roberts goes on leave.

  • HILAIRE BELLOC - The famous author of Cautionary Rhymes was dubbed Belary Helloc by The Wipers Times on account of his patriotic, jingoistic and wildly optimistic armchair general's account of the war in magazines back home.

  • WILLIAM BEACH THOMAS - The Daily Mail's illustrious war Correspondent who always seemed to write from the thick of the action -- but who the men never actually saw. Mocked as Teach Bomas by The Wipers Times. Later knighted.

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Wipers Times, The Script This is optional. Order Now

    The true and extraordinary story of the satirical newspaper created in the mud and mayhem of the Somme, interspersed with comic sketches and spoofs from the vivid imagination of those on the front line.

    In a bombed out building during the First World War in the French town of Ypres (mispronounced Wipers by British soldiers), two officers discover a printing press and create a newspaper for the troops. Far from being a sombre journal about life in the trenches, they produced a resolutely cheerful, subversive and very funny newspaper designed to lift the spirits of the men on the front line.

    		$24.95

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