Private Eye editor Ian Hislop expects the Remembrance Sunday performance of his Great War play The Wipers Times to be “pretty extraordinary”.
The cast of the play, co-written with Nick Newman, will be joined by Aled Jones who will sing Silent Night to raise money for the Royal British Legion.
Hislop said the play, inspired by the story of the soldiers led by Captain Fred Roberts who set up a satirical newspaper on the Western Front, was about the survival of the “human spirit”. He said: “We have a scene in which the Armistice is announced, taken from an unpublished memoir by Fred Roberts, so it’s 100 per cent authentic. We are doing that scene on the day of the 11th which is pretty extraordinary.”
Hislop said the success of the play is partly down to a need to remember the First World War after the last veteran, Harry Patch, died aged 111 in 2009. He said: “There is a desire to keep the memory alive. The great thing about the Wipers Times is we have got the original material.”
The special, which includes a Q&A, is at the Arts Theatre in the West End, with more shows until December 1.
For tickets to the special show, visit artstheatrewestend.co.uk
