Westminster Cathedral Primary School Perform at Lord's

To commemorate 100 years since the Battle of the Somme

Holly Robjohns

To commemorate 100 years since the Battle of the Somme – 1st July 2016 MOD Productions worked with Westminster Cathedral to put on a play at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

On the 1st July 2016 Westminster Cathedral arrived at Lord’s and begun their rehearsals in the St Thomas Lord Suite for their final performance of ‘A Candle for Major Booth’. ITV News and London Live also arrived to cover the performance, filming footage of scenes from the play and interviewing some of the children about what they’ve learnt.

Before they began the performance, actor Will, who was portraying Ernest Boots, spoke about his role and his uniform. He was then joined by two current British army officers who spoke about uniform today and the differences between then and now. He interacted with the other children visiting from Westminster Cathedral Primary School and gave them different military hats to try on. He finished up by telling the story of Ernest Boots.

Then came the performance of ‘A Candle for Major Booth’ which was performed excellently by the children. They told the story of Major Booth in an entertaining way and successfully demonstrated what they had learnt from the outreach sessions.

Finally, a Chelsea Pensioner finished with a special ceremony commemorating, a hundred years later, those who lost their lives in the Battle of the Somme; the event concluded with a one minute silence.

_{written by: Holly Robjohns and Katie Smith}