THE WIPERS TIMES
By Ian Hislop and Nick Newman
Monday 1 – Saturday 6 October
Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne
tickets now on sale
The extraordinary story of the satirical newspaper created in the mud and mayhem of the Somme.
Tickets have just gone on sale for The Wipers Times, Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s true and extraordinary story of the satirical newspaper created in the mud and mayhem of the Somme. The play is coming to Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park Theatre from Monday 1 – Saturday 6 October direct from a record breaking West End season.
In a bombed out building during the First World War in the Belgian town of Ypres (mis-pronounced 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.
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.
This magnificent stage adaptation of Hislop and Newman’s award-winning BBC film of the same name received stunning reviews and enjoyed a sell-out West End run. Now in this significantly important year the play is back on tour and heading to Eastbourne for the first time ever.
2018 marks the 100th centenary year of the end of the First World War and the final battle of Ypres, the Fifth Battle which ended early October 1918. In the area around Ypres including Passchendaele, over 1,700,000 soldiers on both sides were killed or wounded and an uncounted number of civilians.
RC Sheriff was a contributor to the Wipers Times during his time at the Front; he went onto write Journey’s End a play which defined World War 1 and has been adapted to film that was released in cinemas only last week.
The Wipers Times is at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne from Monday 1 – Saturday 6 October, tickets are priced from £21, to book call the box office now on 01323 412000 or online eastbournetheatres.co.uk
