Friendship of First World War poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen examined in play by New Apollo company at The Round Tower, Old Portsmouth

This time they’ve picked something very different – First World War drama Not About Heroes, looking at the relationship between the famed poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.

Written by Stephen MacDonald, it will be the first time the company has used The Round Tower in Old Portsmouth. It is an exciting historical setting, which provides the perfect backdrop to the play.

Actor and director MacDonald wrote the play in 1983, and it has gone on to be produced internationally including an Off-Broadway run with Edward Herrmann and a run at the National Theatre, London, where MacDonald played Sassoon.

The action is replayed through the eyes of an older Sassoon, as he recalls his relationship with his fellow poet Wilfred Owen, beginning some 14 years earlier. Owen introduces himself hesitantly to Sassoon when the latter arrives at Craiglockhart in 1917, having been diagnosed as suffering from ‘war neurosis’ as a result of his protest against the war.

The course of their friendship is shown through extracts from the real diaries and letters of the two men, right up to their last meeting at the Chelsea Physic Garden, when Sassoon was recovering from a head wound that would end his military career while Owen waited to return to the Western Front, where he would soon be killed, just days before the end of the war.

Director Becky James, recalls here first experience of the play: ‘Back in the late ’90s I was invited by some friends to see a touring production of this play at the Ashcroft Arts Centre in Fareham. I wasn’t that keen initially, to my young mind it all sounded a bit dull – just the two actors, lots of poetry, no hope of a happy ending….

‘But that evening was a turning point for me in the way I viewed theatre. Suddenly I realised that with beautiful writing, just two fantastic actors, and only a minimal set, it was still possible to create an epic piece of theatre, which scanned years and dragged the audience into the heart of what those two characters were experiencing.’

It left Becky determined to one day direct the play herself – which she did with her own company WALDIS Productions in 2009. And she is now revisiting it with New Apollo.

‘As soon as I joined the wonderful New Apollo I knew that this would be the ideal company with whom to re-visit the play. What has been really interesting to me is how much more I have seen it the text this time – my own experiences in the intermittent 13 years made me see aspects of the play differently.

‘It has been a joy to be able to bring my love of this play to a new stage, with a new company, and a privilege to have Aaron and Henry to take the journey with me and bring their warmth, depth and talent to the play, not to mention their friendship and support to me! New Apollo is very much a family and I couldn’t imagine a better team to spend my time rehearsing and laughing with.’

The play is on November 1-3. Doors 7pm, show 7.30pm. Tickets £15. Tickets from ticketsource.co.uk/newapollo.