This year the S&L show was held for the 5th time and the various volunteers that give up so much of their time to prepare and put on such an event are to be congratulated for their enthusiasm and sincerity in dealing with the subject of Remembrance.
This year some elements of the original show of 2006 remained: the story of the Australian officer Percy Cherry, a typical French village's reaction to the news of the war and the very moving scene at the end involving the Dorgelès Wooden Crosses. It doesn't matter how many times that final scene appears; it always brings tears to my eyes, and the message delivered is very important. We are reminded that every life snuffed out by war is the end of a human being with a past and a present, a family, a job, a home - but sudddenly no future. The current casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq do not allow us to take such a message lightly.
The new scenes in 2011 were devoted to the footballers of McCrae's battalion in the Royal Scots with a well choreographed football match on the stage. The boat reappeared from 2010's show, bringing the Aussies home, and the tank built by the octogenarian André and his helpers was part of the scenery for the first time. It will undoubtedly be reused as such a magnificent prop cannot sit in a barn and be wasted.
Barry, visiting from Australia to foster more links between his country and the tiny village that saw so much Australian bravery and suffering, told me that the next S&L show will take place in 2013, thereby giving those involved time to take a break and work on new ideas for the next performance two years hence.
