The theatre in the wood – Remembering Mametz Wood

For two weeks during the summer of 2014 an ancient woodland (Great Llancayo Upper Wood) near Usk, Monmouthshire, was transformed into the trenches and battlefields of the Somme. Inspired by the Welsh writer Owen Sheer’s poem ‘Mametz Wood’ the production drew on material by Welsh and English poets who fought in or witnessed one of the bloodiest conflicts of the First World War.

The National Theatre Wales co-commissioned the production with 14-18 NOW, to bring site-specific theatre to Wales. Many Welsh men from 38th (Welsh) Division died in the five day battle, with over 4000 casualties in total.

The production interwove words from soldiers’ journals with lines from Sheer’s poem, and the backdrop of the natural landscape added poignancy to this powerful commemoration of the horrors of the war. ‘...a large cast make it feel fresh and visceral, particularly in the closing sequence in the woods where the faces of the dead soldiers stare out from their photographs: for ever young; for ever lost.’ Review in The Guardian, 27 June 2014

Left: Mametz by National Theatre Wales, part of 14-18 NOW © Mark Douet