Tickets are selling fast for The Wipers Times, Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s true and extraordinary story of the satirical newspaper created in the mud and mayhem of the Somme. This acclaimed production is sure to be a season highlight and comes to Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park Theatre from Monday 1st October to Saturday 6th October – direct from a record breaking West End season.
It’s also been confirmed that BAFTA nominated writing partners Ian Hislop and Nick Newman will participate in a Question and Answer session with the audience on Tuesday 2nd October at the Devonshire Park Theatre directly after that night’s performance.
Ian Hislop is a journalist, satirist, writer, broadcaster and perhaps best known as the editor of Private Eye magazine and team captain on BBC quiz Have I Got News for You. Nick Newman is a comedy writer and also a satirical British cartoonist.
Having met as youths working on revues at Ardingly College in East Sussex Ian and Nick continued their partnership at Oxford and have been regular writing partners since. Their previous writing credits include A Bunch of Amateurs a comedy about a village drama group was originally conceived as a film starring the late great Burt Reynolds, Derek Jacobi and Imelda Staunton before being adapted to stage, and their latest play A Trial by Laughter will soon embark on a national tour.
This magnificent stage adaptation of their award-winning BBC film of the same name received stunning reviews and enjoyed a sell-out West End run. Now in this significantly important year the play is back on tour and heading to Eastbourne for the first time ever.
In a bombed out building during the First World War in the Belgian town of Ypres (mis-pronounced Wipers by British soldiers), two officers discover a printing press and create a newspaper for the troops. Far from being a sombre journal about life in the trenches, they produced a resolutely cheerful, subversive and very funny newspaper designed to lift the spirits of the men on the front line.
Defying enemy bombardment, gas attacks and the disapproval of many of the top Brass, The Wipers Times rolled off the press for two years and was an extraordinary tribute to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity.
2018 marks the 100th centenary year of the end of the First World War and the final battle of Ypres, the Fifth Battle which ended early October 1918. In the area around Ypres including Passchendaele, over 1,700,000 soldiers on both sides were killed or wounded and an uncounted number of civilians.
The Wipers Times is at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne from Monday 1st October to Saturday 6th October with nightly performances at 7.45pm and Wednesday & Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Tickets are priced from £21 and can be booked by calling the box office on 01323 412000 or online at eastbournetheatres.co.uk