Beyond the Front Line, day three

Today was another interesting day. Blue company spent the morning doing research in the Imperial War Museum across the way from the Lowry, which I really enjoyed because I have always been interested in the wars of the early nineteen hundreds, having read quite a bit of literature on the subject already I was able to experience what I really wanted, which was witness accounts of what life was like during wartime.

The research was very useful to me in that it brought home the thoughts and feeling one might experience not just when going to war, but having someone you know and love go to fight somewhere they have very little control over. Of course we have the choice to go to war now, as we did during world war two, people sign up for combat when they are needed which is both rewarding and daunting at the same time. During World War II, in some areas of the country, if a man that was of combat age did not enlist to the war effort it could have spelled social ruin for them, for example if they were to order a pint of beer at the local blacked out, tape windowed pub, the landlord (if he/she was particularly nasty) would place a white feather on the head of their pint, a cowards sign.

But perhaps I am drawing too much from history on this one, or maybe concentrating too much in the wrong direction, still some research is better than no research, and I really do feel that I understand the concept behind the piece, which helps me to appreciate the gravity of what we are doing and therefore convinces me to take it with as much enthusiasm and professionalism as I can. I know I entered uni to work on the skills which will support me as a comedian, but I am also an artist, and can appreciate this performance for what it really is. Yes the tickets cost money, yes there is money being pumped into advertising and yes I will be stood on a roof looking down at the Lowry for about three and a half hours but despite all that, I feel that it means much more than a simple theatre performance designed to make money, and that is worth at least the full attention and effort of Sye.