Remembrance on stage and in concert - in West Wittering and Felpham

Lest We Forget was originally planed for March this year – until Covid decimated the company. But now it has been rescheduled, timed once again to mark the centenary of West Wittering Players’ home venue, West Wittering Memorial Hall. The piece commemorates the lives of the Fallen as engraved on the wall of the hall. Also included will be readings and poetry and music of the era. It has been written and compiled by Richard Handford with additional research by Major Mick Stanley. It runs at West Wittering Memorial Hall from Wednesday to Saturday, November 16-19 at 7.30pm, directed by Richard. Tickets £8 and £7.50 are available from Sayas News, Rookwood Road or 01243 513110.

As Richard explains: “The starting point for this was that the Memorial Hall committee approached the Players and said they wanted to mark the centenary of the opening of the Memorial Hall which was funded and built as a result of the First World War. The hall was to remember the people from West Wittering who died and it opened in 1922. The Memorial Hall committee originally asked if we could put on a production that either was written during the First World War or was set around 1922. When I got to hear of it, I thought we could do a lot better than that and honour the 19 men from West Wittering who died during the First World War. That would have been a huge number. I would guess that during the First World War the population would have been something like 600 at the time. I start with the first recruits in 1914 joining up and mentioning the two from West Wittering that were in the Royal Navy that died in 1914 and then the story is told year by year of what happened in the First World War with extracts from reminiscences from people and a couple of extracts of poetry.”

The men who died will be remembered: “Fortunately I've got a friend and neighbour called Major Mick Stanley who did the research. He saw the names of the men and thought ‘I don't know anything about these men and I'd better find out.’ Independently I was thinking of doing something and then I realised that Mick was able to do most of the research that I needed and so I have borrowed his research for the production.”

Also coming up, Littlehampton’s Edwin James Festival Orchestra offer A Time for Remembrance.

Spokeswoman Madeleine Wadley said: “The Edwin James Festival Orchestra will perform their A Time for Remembrance concert on Saturday, November 12 at 7.30pm in the St Mary’s Centre in Felpham. The concert will include a wide-ranging programme of musical pieces including Adagio from Spartacus, Mars from the Planets Suite, the RAF and Knightbridge Marches, the Light Cavalry Overture and the ever popular Moonlight Serenade. The Last Post will be sounded followed by two minutes silence and the Reveille.”

Tickets costing £10 are available on 01243 584920 or 01243 582330. Doors from 6.45pm.