Ilkley Playhouse

November, always a time for reflection and remembrance, carries an extra significance this year with the centenary of the end of the Great War.

This is being commemorated in many ways and from many viewpoints. The Ilkley Playhouse has looked to a local tale of courage and drama to mark this special anniversary.

Barnbow Canaries was commissioned by the West Yorkshire Playhouse, who asked local playwright Alice Nutter to dramatise the events that took place in a Leeds munitions factory in 1915.

At the colossal Barnbow plant in east Leeds, amid a national cry for ‘more shells!’, local workers – of both genders, although by the end of the war they were overwhelmingly female – worked in horrible and treacherous conditions.

Health and safety not then being a key priority, one day the inevitable happened and a huge explosion rocked the factory. This being secret war work, the tragedy was smoothly hushed up and the sacrifices made by the Barnbow workers largely forgotten.

A century later, Alice wanted her writing to ensure that the sacrifices and efforts of the workers weren’t overlooked.

At the heart of the play are Agnes and her sister Edith, revelling in their new-found independence and prosperity as Barnbow lasses. Their (relatively) well-paid work gives them confidence and even the possibility of a new future.

Within this world there is great potential for comedy, drama and camaraderie. A thoroughly talented cast give memorable performances to bring this to life.

Alongside danger and sacrifice, other themes run through the story: solidarity, community spirit, and gender equality. There’s also a strong contrast at the story’s heart: we meet women who are putting their lives in danger for their country in dreadful conditions, yet who also welcome a new-found freedom in the workplace, massively improved wages, and a break from domestic servitude.

There is also evocative period music and songs.

Barnbow Canaries runs from Thursday, November 1 to Saturday, November 10.

Also in November the Playhouse welcomes local musicians The Guiseley Brothers and Otley Brass Band for an evening of music at Ilkley Playhouse. Saturday, November 17 will be an uplifting evening of music in the Wildman Studio.

Proceeds will go to the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice and Friends of Clockhouse, a respite facility for children with complex health and disabilities based in Keighley. For more information about this event, and the rest of the season, go to www.ilkleyplayhouse.co.uk. To buy tickets for all events and Barnbow Canaries, visit the website or call the box office on (01943) 609539 during box office opening hours.