TO MARK the centenary of the start of World War One, The Dukes, Lancaster is set to explore the impact of the Great War on a rural community.

Critically acclaimed theatre company, Northern Broadsides, return in March with the world premiere tour of their new play ‘An August Bank Holiday Lark.’

Running at the Lancaster theatre from March 4 to March 8, the new production takes its title from a line in Philip Larkin’s poem MCMXIV and explores the impact of the War on a rural community in East Lancashire.

It is set in the idyllic summer of 1914 when everyone in Lancashire’s rural community is excited about Wakes week when they can have a rest from field and mill.

The play features a celebration of the Rushbearing Festival with singing, courting, drinking as well as clog and Morris dancing.

The looming war barely registers…but it will. Through the lens of traditional rural life, the play follows the stories of the people of the village and witnesses their personal transitions from exuberance to touching naivety as they deal with their loss with courage and humanity.

Playwright Deborah McAndrew said: “An August Bank Holiday Lark focuses on one small community and the, often overlooked, British involvement on the Eastern Front. Countless Lancashire lads exchanged the soft Pennine drizzle for the searing Turkish sun and gave their lives at the August offensive in Gallipoli.

“The play never leaves the village of Greenmill, but remembers the fallen and wounded – and those for whom the war was far away and over long before the guns were finally silenced.”

An August Bank Holiday Lark is directed by and will feature Northern Broadsides artistic director Barrie Rutter. Last year, Barrie received much acclaim for his role of John Rutherford in the smash hit Broadsides production of Rutherford & Son which played at The Dukes a year ago. And among the cast are some whose grandfathers and great grandfathers fought in World War One.

To book, ring The Dukes Box Office on 01524 598500 or visit www.dukes-lancaster.org.

*The Dukes will be hosting two other events this spring to mark the centenary of World War One.

*The cinema will screen War Horse beamed live from the National Theatre on March 1/2/20/22 and The Dukes Young Actors and Young Company will present Your Country Needs You! (But I don’t need my country…) from March 18 to 22.