Birdsong tells the story of one man’s journey through an all-consuming love affair and into 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 returns to the same area; this time he is a soldier at the Battle of the Somme, the bloodiest encounter in British military history. As his men die around him, he turns to his enduring love for Isabelle for the strength to continue and to save something for future generations.

Sebastian Faulks’s 1993 novel Birdsong is one of Britain’s best-loved books. It has sold more than two million copies in the United Kingdom and more than three million worldwide. 

Birdsong director Trevor Nunn is the former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. His previous directorial credits include Les Misérables, Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Arcadia and Rock ‘N’ Roll, and he has four Laurence Olivier Awards to his name.

For more about Birdsong at the Comedy theatre read the First Night Feature.