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{"id":408,"date":"2016-07-01T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/?p=47"},"modified":"2019-08-02T09:48:58","modified_gmt":"2019-08-02T08:48:58","slug":"national-theatre-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/national-theatre-wales\/","title":{"rendered":"Working Day \/\/ National Theatre Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"western\"><b><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\">Today we were honoured to photograph \u00a0National Theatre Wales&#8217; specially\u00a0commissioned event to mark the\u00a0centenary of the Battle of the Somme. \u00a0Around 100 volunteers led by National Theatre Wales were part of a UK-wide event that took place today, 1 July 2016, as a modern memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. Commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the UK\u2019s arts programme for the First World War centenary, the work was conceived and created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller in collaboration with Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-60 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/13522808_1568020006836328_8881193539152589935_o.jpg\" alt=\"13522808_1568020006836328_8881193539152589935_o\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1183\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\">\u00a0<span style=\"color: #00000a;\"><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">The specially commissioned event saw some 1,400 voluntary participants dressed in First World War uniform appear unexpectedly in locations across the UK, including three locations in Wales; Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor. National Theatre Wales was one of 25 organisations which collaborated on the work, called\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #00000a;\"><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\"><i>\u2018we\u2019re here because we\u2019re here\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #00000a;\"><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span lang=\"en-GB\">. It was produced by Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the National Theatre, working in close collaboration with partners including:\u00a0Lyric Theatre Belfast,\u00a0Manchester Royal Exchange,\u00a0National Theatre of Scotland, Northern Stage,\u00a0Playhouse Derry-Londonderry, Salisbury Playhouse,\u00a0Sheffield Theatres and\u00a0Theatre Royal Plymouth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-59 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/13528368_1568020003502995_4938829342474059310_o.jpg\" alt=\"13528368_1568020003502995_4938829342474059310_o\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1265\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\">National Theatre Wales collaborated with Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Pontio in Bangor and Volcano in Swansea on the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\">The project breaks new ground in terms of its scale, breadth, reach and the number of partners and participants involved. This is the first time so many theatres have worked together on a UK-wide participation project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\">The participants who walked the streets today were a reminder of the 19,240 men who were killed on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. They travelled on several routes in Swansea (in the city centre, to Sketty in the east and as far as Port Talbot to the west), in Aberystwyth (including to Aberaeron, Borth, around the town centre and up Constitution Hill) and in Bangor (including the pier and parts of Mount Snowdon). Each participant represented an individual soldier who was killed that day. The work is partly inspired by tales of sightings during and after the First World War by people who believed they had seen a dead loved one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-57 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/13576699_1568020066836322_438112400110861791_o.jpg\" alt=\"13576699_1568020066836322_438112400110861791_o\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1044\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\">The participants wore historically accurate uniforms, representing 15 of the regiments that suffered losses in the first day of the Battle.<\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\">The soldiers did not speak, but at points throughout the day would sing the song\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\"><i>\u2018we\u2019re here because we\u2019re here\u2019<\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\">, which was sung in the trenches during the First World War.\u00a0They handed out cards to members of the public with the name and regiment of the soldier they represented, and, where known, the age of the soldier when he died on 1 July 1916.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-53 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/13582127_1568020113502984_4451587135661391944_o.jpg\" alt=\"13582127_1568020113502984_4451587135661391944_o\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1260\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\">\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-55 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/13575895_1568020073502988_7985331450053714071_o.jpg\" alt=\"13575895_1568020073502988_7985331450053714071_o\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1302\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\">\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-50 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/13576739_1568020306836298_3653342281073789675_o.jpg\" alt=\"13576739_1568020306836298_3653342281073789675_o\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1202\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\">The daylong work ran from 7am to 7pm and covered the width and breadth of the UK, from Shetland to Penzance. Sites they visited included shopping centres, train stations, beaches, car parks and high streets \u2013 taking the memorial to contemporary Britain and bringing an intervention into people\u2019s daily lives where it was least expected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-51 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/13580367_1568020186836310_1106673322202005129_o.jpg\" alt=\"13580367_1568020186836310_1106673322202005129_o\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1337\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-52 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/13517541_1568020133502982_3695858477811826703_o.jpg\" alt=\"13517541_1568020133502982_3695858477811826703_o\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1338\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-48 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/13558863_1568020396836289_4265565332115331533_o.jpg\" alt=\"13558863_1568020396836289_4265565332115331533_o\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1273\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\">The volunteers were men aged between 16-52, reflecting the men who would have fought in the Somme. They were not trained actors but come from a range of professions, including a sheep farmer, flight attendant, doctor, lawyer, social worker, shop\u00a0assistant, portrait artist and GCSE student. They came together to rehearse in theatres and with theatre companies across the UK over a month-long period in the run-up to the performance. \u2018<\/span><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\"><i>we\u2019re here because we\u2019re here\u2019<\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-family: GravurCondensed-Regular, serif;\"> is one of the largest arts participation projects ever staged in the UK, with hundreds of additional volunteers working behind the scenes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"western\"><strong>\u00a9 Athena Picture Agency Ltd, proud suppliers of news and press photography, pr public relations photography, sports photography, features photography, stock and aerial photography in Wales, UK<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today we were honoured to photograph \u00a0National Theatre Wales&#8217; specially\u00a0commissioned event to mark the\u00a0centenary of the Battle of the Somme. \u00a0Around 100 volunteers led by National Theatre Wales were part of a UK-wide event that took place today, 1 July 2016, as a modern memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1582,"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408\/revisions\/1582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.athena-pictures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}