Brighton Festival announces major new work inspired by the story of hundreds of thousands of men who travelled from India to fight for the Allies in the First World War.
Commissioned in partnership with 14-18 Now and Royal Pavilion and Museums, and created by performance company Nutkhut with a creative team that includes designer Tom Piper (Tower of London poppies), Dr Blighty will be an ambitious, large-scale, immersive outdoor experience, and a showpiece for the 50th edition of Brighton Festival which again takes place in May.
More than a million men travelled from India to fight for the Allies during the First World War, their collective experiences constituting one of military history’s great though often untold stories. Brighton played a key part in that story, as between 1914 and 1916 over 2000 Indian soldiers wounded on the Western Front were brought to a temporary hospital housed in Brighton’s Royal Pavilion Estate.
Dr Blighty recalls this episode in Brighton’s history, bringing the experiences of the soldiers – and the locals who came to care for them – movingly back to life via an immersive, walk-through installation across the Royal Pavilion Estate.
Inspired by letters the soldiers sent home, and populated by actors, interactive installations, video projections, ambient soundscapes and theatrical set pieces, the event will seek to capture the essence of the Pavilion wartime hospital along with the experiences of the soldiers who recuperated there.
The hospital installation will be complemented by a series of related performances and participatory outreach activities, drawing parallels with contemporary events while bringing this moving episode in Brighton’s history back to life.
For four nights, a spectacular after-dark production will incorporate video projections on the Royal Pavilion.
In addition, the Philharmonia Orchestra will perform with some of India’s leading contemporary musicians in a special ticketed concert at Brighton Dome, marrying Western and Eastern classical music traditions.
Ajay Chhabra, Artistic Director of Nutkhut says: “Thousands of letters were written from the Western Front back home to wives, mothers, daughters and sisters, and it’s the emotion within these letters that Dr Blighty is trying to bring into the public domain. They, alongside the propaganda and the censorship, give us an insight into the lives of these young men, and give these many anonymous soldiers a voice. The project will essentially tell a 100-year-old story, and make it a contemporary one for new audiences.”
Andrew Comben, Chief Executive, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival added: “This is an important story, both in the history of Brighton & Hove and in the wider context of the First World War – one which we think deserves to be better known. In Brighton Festival’s 50th year, it’s even more appropriate that we present this piece now and I am delighted to be working with our partners to bring it to fruition.”
Brighton Festival’s Guest Director for this milestone year is the pioneering artist and musician Laurie Anderson.
Established in 1967, the month long event is now one of Europe’s leading arts festivals, and is an enduring symbol of the city’s culture, inventive spirit and experimental reputation.
Full programme details of Brighton Festival 2016 will be announced on February 17, 2016.
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