The stage adaptation of Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s award-winning film The Wipers Times opened at the Arts Theatre on Monday. We caught up with the cast and creatives at press night.
The Wipers Times tells 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 Belgian 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 frontline.
Defying enemy bombardment, gas attacks and the disapproval of many of the top Brass, The Wipers Times rolled off the press for two years and was an extraordinary tribute to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity.
The production takes place one hundred years after the Battle of the Somme and publication of The Wipers Times.
The Wipers Times runs at the Arts Theatre until 13 May. Book your tickets today.