All About the Boys: The Last Days of Wilfred Owen

By Robert J. Fanshawe

This is a play about the last days of the WWI poet Wilfred Owen. A lot is known about the poets life, including all his letters that were kept and subsequently published along with all his poems. However, only very few of the poems were published in his lifetime, and it is not known how his soldiers, who he wrote the poems about, would have viewed them. Additionally, it is not known exactly how he met his end, only that he was killed on the banks of the Sambre Canal at Ors trying to secure the crossing.

The play aims to fill those gaps in our knowledge through drama, as well as interpreting some of the poems in the light of what we now know about Owen, his place in literature, and the overall war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Sep 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546297314

Robert J. Fanshawe

Robert J. Fanshawe is an historical fiction writer living and working in the UK. This is his second novel, and follows A Cellist's Friend.

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© 2018 Robert J Fanshawe. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 09/11/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-9732-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-9731-4 (e)

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgment

About the Book

Introduction

Dramatis Personæ

Act 1

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Act 2

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Act 3

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The poems ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, ‘Anthem For Doomed Youth’, ‘Greater Love’, and ‘The End’, by Wilfred Owen, are quoted from The War Poems of Wilfred Owen, edited and introduced by Jon Stallworthy and published by Chatto & Windus, London, 1994.

ABOUT THE BOOK

This is a play about the last days of the WW1 poet Wilfred Owen. A lot is known about the poet’s life including all his letters that were kept and subsequently published, along with all his poems. However only a very few of the poems were published in his lifetime and it is not known how his soldiers, who he wrote the poems about, would have viewed them. Additionally it is not known exactly how he met his end, only that he was killed on the banks of the Sambre Canal at Ors trying to secure the crossing.

The play aims to fill those gaps in our knowledge through drama, as well as interpreting some of the poems in the light of what we now know about Owen, his place in literature and the overall war.

INTRODUCTION

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC is recognised as the foremost poet of the First World War and now increasingly as one of the greatest English poets of his era. He was killed in the very last battle of the war in his sector of the Western Front on 4 November 1918. In his lifetime, only a very limited number of his poems had been published, but not in the wider media, and it is unlikely that his soldiers and those he fought with had read his poetry.

This play is a dramatic illustration of the compelling story of Wilfred’s last battle and death, with his parents receiving the notification of his death on the day the armistice was announced. It is also an exploration of the effect his poetry might have had on its subjects, the soldiers he fought with, laying bare the reasons for fighting and the very strict disciplinary code of the British Army—and giving us, through its subjects, lessons on the quality of the poetry, its appeal, and its place in literature.

The war has become more mobile. The British 4th Army is in a final advance through Northern France. The 96th Brigade, with the 2nd Manchester Battalion as one of its main fighting units, has one more obstacle to cross: the Sambre-Oise Canal. But the Germans are holding its eastern bank with more strength than is realised. Private Baldwin, a conscript soldier, is Lieutenant Owen’s batman (man servant). He knows of his poetry and conspires to bring some of the best poems to the attention of his fellow soldiers. Initial ridicule amidst the British Tommy’s classic, ironic humour turns to an electrifying effect as the down-to-earth and realistic atmosphere of the poetry dawns on the soldiers. The soldiers’ experience of the poetry, filtered through moments of high drama in the unfolding tragedy of the battle, demonstrates how art can shape the spirit of people facing great adversity, just as it came to shape the future view of this war.

‘What a tribute to Wilfred, alive with enthusiasm and a great achievement.’ Peter Owen, nephew of Wilfred Owen, on seeing the first staging of the play.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Names are those of the cast on its first staging on 14 Nov 2014

Wilfred Owen’s Family

Wilfred Owen’s Company Personnel

Wilfred Owen’s Platoon

ACT 1

Scene 1

The scene is the parlour of a house in Shrewsbury. There is a small dining table with four chairs. In the far corner of the room is a small writing desk with a single chair in front of it and a small escritoire on top.

There is no sound except a loud grandfather clock ticking from somewhere in the house offstage. There is no sound from