The Dunsden Wilfred Owen Society exists to celebrate the life and work of the First World War poet who lived and worked in Dunsden from 1911-13. On Saturday 8 November, several of Shiplake College’s senior musicians and actors took part in a special concert to commemorate the life of Wilfred Owen.
“Letters to my Mother” was a concert devised by John Bodman and featured readings of Owen’s letters from the front as well as readings of some of his famous war poems. During the evening Shiplake College pupils acted the part of Owen as a teenager (Lucas Brooks), Owen as an Officer (Connor Cummings), the Angel of Death (Katie Webster) and soldiers in the trenches singing songs from the front (Michael Ball, Cameron Bell, Ben Fletcher, Jordan Gibson, James Hargreaves, Andy Hildred, Sam Ryder-Smith, Danny Seymour).
The Shiplake pupils were involved in one of the most memorable scenes of the evening when they re-enacted the famous Christmas Truce of 1914. Boys played the parts of both the British and German soldiers singing Silent Night in both English/German from opposite ends of the Church. The audience and pupils then enjoyed a brief football match in the aisle!
Orla Brown and Eliska Zahorova joined a specially-formed choir to lead the audience in singing some famous WWI songs and Angus Meldrum read Dulce et Decolrum Est with great aplomb. There were further musical contributions from Year 9 Music Scholars Michael Ball (saxophone solo) and Ben Fletcher (trumpet, The Last Post). Director of Music, Paul Jones said “I am extremely proud of the contribution made by the Shiplake pupils. Through their talent and commitment, they made an enormous contribution to a very important and poignant local event”.
