Person: Emma Thornton

Oh What A Lovely War

Our open air Summer 2026 production will be the musical entertainment that is ‘Oh What a Lovely War’.

Created by Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop in 1963, ‘Oh What a Lovely War’ tells the story of the First World War through popular songs and music of the period. Known as ‘The Great War’ and even ‘The War To End All Wars’ (sadly so very wrong) the four years of bloody conflict between August 1914 and November 1918 resulted in the deaths of millions and changed the entire global landscape. Old empires fell, new ones began to rise, and the seeds were sewn not for lasting peace, but for conflict to come.

This is not a tale of bravery and heroism. By balancing music hall songs such as ‘Roses of Picardy‘, ‘Hold Your Hand Out, You Naughty Boy‘, ‘I’ll Make A Man Out Of You‘ and ‘Keep The Home Fires Burning‘ with tunes from the trenches such as ‘I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier‘, ‘Gassed Last Night‘, ‘When This Lousy War Is Over‘ and of course ‘Oh What A Lovely War‘, with sketches shedding light on what went on both on the front lines and behind them, the play lays bare the stupidity, corruption and futility of the war, at the same time sending up mercilessly the upper echelons of Britain’s military, more concerned with prestige and position and outdated ideology, unable or unwanting to change in the face of new technologies such as the machine gun, poison gas, aeroplane or tank, capable of dispensing death on a new, industrial scale.

With the men in the frontline being ordered to do the impossible, their best, and sometimes their only, armour was a sense of humour, and this production showcases that brilliantly. Come and see us, join in the songs (you’ll know more than you think) and laugh along with the Tommies, the lions led by donkeys…

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Good King Richard is dead, and the throne is now held by his brother John, a man determined to make his mark no matter what the cost to the people he rules. In Nottingham, the evil Sheriff brutally extorts higher and higher taxes for his royal master, putting dissenters to the sword. The land has never been in greater need of a hero.

This Summer, we’re back in our idyllic woodland glade at the Coulsdon Manor Hotel with that most celebrated icon of English folklore, Robin Hood. Alongside his outlaw allies, Little John, Will Scarlet, Alan A’Dale and Friar Tuck, aided by the fearless Marian Fitzwalter, they’re going to challenge the tyranny and injustice that the Sheriff and his royal patron are imposing on the good people of England, and tear the whole rotten edifice down. Or die trying.

High adventure and fun on a Summer’s  evening – among the trees in the good company of the free men of Sherwood, witnessing thrilling and entertaining encounters as the fight for freedom begins, with sword, with bow, with quarterstaff and with laughter.

Animal Farm (2025)

All is not well on Manor Farm. The animals are neglected and abused by their drunken owner, and anger and a sense of injustice are growing. They dare to dream of taking their destinies into their own hooves, paws and claws. When man is gone, fairness and equality for all animals shall be the rule! Won’t it?

TWC’s Summer 2025 open air production is a new, fast-paced, occasionally frightening and sometimes bleakly comic adaptation of one of the most celebrated novels of the Twentieth Century – George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’.

An army of downtrodden farm animals rises up to overthrow their human oppressors. But their dream of a society where all animals are equal soon collides with the seductive allure of privilege and the corrupting nature of political power. Orwell’s famous fable – a brilliant satire on the Russian revolution and the rise of Stalin – is a gripping tale of rebellion, heroism and ultimate betrayal. The writing is on the wall – literally:

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS