THE LIVING UNKNOWN SOLDIER
A new play by Sebastian Armesto
Based on Le Soldat Inconnu Vivant by Jean-Yves Le Naour
“A man that can’t remember. A nation that can’t forget.”
12 Feb – 15 Mar 2008
Arcola Theatre
France, 1918. The Great War has ended. Thousands are missing. Relatives are desperately seeking their loved ones as men come back from the front. A soldier is found wandering a station platform with no knowledge of his identity or the country he has been defending. Diagnosed with amnesia and sectioned in an asylum, he is saved from death but exiled from life – facing a no-mans land once more.
As news spreads across the country, families flock to him in search of the fathers, brothers, husbands and sons who will never come home. This one man becomes a symbol for a generation ripped apart by war – a living unknown soldier.
This poignant production is a timely reminder of the fallout from war, questioning our moral responsibility towards returning servicemen, and exploring the fragile frontier between imagination and memory.
“A fluid spectacle that pointantly evokes the lasting and universal traumas of war”
Time Out (Critic’s Choice) ★★★★
ENSEMBLE
David Brett
Stephanie Brittain
Hugo Cox
Hannah Emanuel
Tony Guilfoyle
Sue Maund
Tom Mison
Giovanni Palmiero
CREATIVE TEAM
Director Sebastian Armesto
Designer Emily Pennant-Rea
Movement Christopher Doyle
Music David Brett & Hannah Emanuel