The Arts Theatre continues a theme of political satire by putting on Hislop and Newman’s stage adaptation of their own award-winning BBC film, The Wipers Times.

Set against the brutal backdrop of the Somme, this play brings to life the true story of a satirical newspaper that was created by a group of British soldiers, and named after their common mispronunciation of the nearby town, Ypres. In early 1916 two officers discovered a printing press forgotten in a bombed out building which inspired their creation of The Wipers Times, a subversive but resolutely cheerful publication that circulated among British troops for the final two years of the war.

Directed by Caroline Leslie and featuring a strong cast full of up-and-coming talent, this collaborative production between Trademark Touring and Watermill Theatre will feel particularly poignant performed one hundred years after the events it narrates.