Here Dead We Lie
A free evening of Great War poetry presented by Dr Helen Brooks and Professor Mark Connelly in collaboration with Dover Youth Theatre at Westgate Hall, Canterbury, on Friday 24 April.
Doors and bar opens at 6.30pm.
Performance starts at 7pm.
Book your tickets here.
Building on our successful lecture-concerts in 2017 and 2019, Gateways to the First World War warmly invites you to an evening exploring the lesser-known poets and poetry of the Great War. Inspired by the battlefield photographs of tour guide Mark Allen, which feature throughout the performance, Dr Helen Brooks and Professor Mark Connelly take you on a poetic journey exploring the experience and aftermath of war, from the perspective of the combatants and their loved ones.
The performance features poems by Lieutenant William Noel Hodgson, MC; May Wedderburn Cannan; Diana Gurney; Philip Johnstone (aka Lt John Stanley Pruvis) and Osbert Sitwell; as well as more familiar names such as Wilfred Owen; Siegfried Sassoon; Laurence Binyon; G. K. Chesterton; Alan Seeger, and Charles Hamilton Sorley. Readers from Dover Youth Theatre will bring the poems to life, making this a unique opportunity for anyone interested in poetry and the Great War.
Westgate Hall, the century-old award-winning former drill hall in the heart of the city, is the ideal venue for Here Dead We Lie.
Westgate Community Trust (Canterbury) Ltd, a charitable company, has been a local success story since its conception in 2010, when it offered an alternative to Canterbury City Council’s plans to demolish Westgate Hall. Since re-opening in 2014 following refurbishment, the Trust has managed the Hall’s transition to a vibrant community space, hosting wide-ranging events from weddings to funerals, graduation balls to election counts. As a community venue for over a century, it now has a footfall of over 45,000 per year, but its remit is not limited to the local community. Located a short walk from both of Canterbury’s railway stations and next to the Curzon Cinema, it is an ideal location for a regional event.
Getting to the event
Westgate Hall is in Canterbury city centre, approximately 10 minutes’ walk from Canterbury West railway station and 15 minutes’ walk from Canterbury East railway station. Parking is available in the adjacent Pound Lane car park at £1.70 an hour and in other city centre car parks.
Address: Westgate Hall, Westgate Hall Road, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2BT.
For further information about the event please contact Gateways at gateways@kent.ac.uk or contact Westgate Hall on 01227 634886 or info@westgatehall.org.
