Of all the plays that looked at World War One as part of the war's 100 year commemoration, arguably the most powerful was The 306: Dawn. Performed in a barn in Perthshire, the National Theatre of Scotland and Perth Theatre's production of Oliver Emanuel's play looked at the experience of some of the 306 men executed for cowardice between 1914 and 1918. This first part of a trilogy of music theatre works used movement and a live score by Gareth Williams performed by the Red Note Ensemble alongside Emanuel's text to dramatise a piece of hidden history that became an elegy to the men. Today, it is recognised that those executed would likely have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, and it took the best part of a century for them to receive pardons. Almost a year on, the second part of the trilogy opens this week in very different surroundings, as it focuses on the women behind the men that fell on the front-line. The 306: Day opens in the Station Hotel in
An archive of arts writing by Neil Cooper. Effete No Obstacle.