Actor and 70s icon Nicholas Ball is making his return after many years to the live stage next month. Ball is best known as James Hazell in the classic series Hazell, and more recently portrayed the violent gangster Terry Bates in EastEnders, along with a starring role in Footballers’ Wives.
For his one-off West End performance, he will be joining "Bullets And Daffodils" (The Wilfred Owen Story), which is returning to The Jermyn Street Theatre, where it enjoyed a sell-out premiere in 2012. Billed as War poetry as it's never been heard before: Wilfred Owen – A Voice Reborn!, this brand new production (in which Ball plays a ‘Cockney Tommy’) marks the centenary of war poet Wilfred Owen's enlistment into the nearby Artists’ Rifles regiment in 1915. The piece represents a passionate tribute in song and spoken word. Songwriter Dean Johnson has set many of Owen’s greatest poems to music, and tells the story of the doomed poet’s life from his childhood in Birkenhead to his death in the trenches.
The script contains contributions from TV writer David Quantick (The Thick Of It, Grumpy Old Men). Executive producer and guest narrator Mark Reed is the son of actor Oliver Reed. His voice bears a striking resemblance to that of his famous father.
The British Theatre Guide: “Thought-provoking, moving and different.”
“Bullets and Daffodils is and has a good contemporary way of introducing people of all ages, but particularly the younger, to Wilfred's poetry.” – Peter Owen, Wilfred's nephew.
By Dean Johnson
CAST: Nicholas Ball (Cockney Tommy), Dean Johnson (Musical Narrator), Mark Reed (Narrator).
Special Guest: Pauline Fleming (Coronation Street, Emmerdale)
Sunday 18th January 2015, 7.30 pm
Jermyn Street Theatre
16b Jermyn Street
London SW1Y 6ST
Tickets: £22.00, £18.00 concessions. Click here to purchase.
For further information contact:
Dean Johnson – 07539 371925
info@wilfredowenstory.com
The Wilfred Owen Story
34 Argyle Street
Birkenhead
Wirral
Merseyside
CH41 6AE
http://www.wilfredowenstory.com
