Tunstill's Men,
TO use the word poignant to describe this potent drama is to devalue the impact that it so clearly had on the audience. Similarly, the term audience seems painfully inappropriate as the piece is so skilfully written, staged and researched that those attending become an active part of the unfolding story.
From the outset, each attendee is given a character profile and we begin our involvement in 1931 at the funeral of the late Gilbert Tunstill. The importance of the characters grows as the story unfolds so that when the drama closes and the notes of the Last Post fade you are left with an urgent need to find out what happened to the person with whom you have begun to identify.
Tunstill's Men is truly interactive drama, without the need for any technology. This was very much an emotional journey as well as a very haunting tribute to the original Tunstill's men and it was clear that many of those present were deeply affected by the production.
Based on the true story of Craven men who volunteered in 1914 following an appeal by Otterburn resident Gilbert Tunstill, the play follows the events both at home and in France by means of a promenade performance.
The production in Settle was given added impact by the fact that the real Tunstill's men would have been very familiar with the setting for the final scene as they had originally mustered at the cricket ground.
In purely theatrical terms it is deeply engrossing and incredibly well constructed, the result of considerable time and effort in selecting locations which heighten the mood of the piece.
The script itself is extremely powerful, relying heavily on original source material, and the standard of the acting is also much to be admired as it is without any artifice.
In the centenary of the events depicted in the play, Tunstill's Men is an incredibly accomplished act of remembrance which deserves to be seen and appreciated by as many as possible. If you only attend one event in connection with the commemorations for the Great War, make sure that this is the one you attend.
Gill O'Donnell
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