DRAMA
SILENT WITNESS TO WAR
My experience was wholly unique, yet unified by the deep emotional act I was committing alongside thousands of others. Being based in London, I travelled from my starting point in Kings Cross up to Dalston before returning back to Waterloo for a truly incredible finale. Throughout the day, contrasting with our intense silence, we were told to spontaneously break out into the song We’re Here Because We’re Here , sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne during our scheduled breaks and stops in public places. The finale, however, saw around ten groups meet together at Waterloo Station, slowly circling and joining each other in the concourse before stopping all together to join in one final refrain of the song – yet there was a twist. This time, as we reached the climax of the song, there came no harmonious ending, but a contorted scream, a bellow of anguish intended to shock and silence the crowd, once again highlighting the true message of remembrance we were representing. After this, the crowd of soldiers dissipated, melting away into the assembled mass, and the station was left as it was a few minutes before, yet now echoing the pain of loss. I feel privileged to have been a part of such a truly incredible and historic event. Lest we forget. It’s meant to be unsettling and it’s based on reports during the First World War of people in towns and cities seeing their loved one who’d been killed in the war out of the corner of their eye. For them, it was like these apparitions of the dead 2ǵ㠯¯Ç
Through an intensely secretive rehearsal process throughout June, we were allocated groups, costumes and were rigorously drilled alongside thousands of people aged 16-50 across the country as to how we were to behave before finally appearing on 1 July 2016, the centenary date. We appeared silently in train stations and shopping centres, across beaches and mountains without any explanation or advance notice. When approached we didn’t speak but handed out a small white card as we were taught to do – on it was the name, rank, regiment and the age of the soldier we represented, every one of whom had died on the 1st of July 1916, the first day of the Somme. The public’s response to the work was immediate, heartfelt and visceral with tens of thousands taking to social media to share their experiences. People came up to us crying, thanking us, applauding us – yet we remained silent, a living memorial to the tragic loss. Social media was flooded with reports of unique individual experiences, with more that 340 million impressions and reactions worldwide and the hashtag #wearehere trending on Twitter for more than 14 hours. Two million people experienced the work live with more than 30million experiencing it via the media. According to YouGov, a staggering 63 per cent of the UK adult population were aware of the event. This Living Memorial stirred the emotions of the public 100 years on with 1,500 of us as reminders of that day, silent, often only half seen by passers-by, almost ghostly.
I¶ò2Ó¯ãóñò÷ğШ»ÓË}¶Ë»¢Ü»¯Ó¶ÐÇË𠪶¯Óª¶£ËÜÇ}¯ ӯݪ¨»ãËğл» Å}ÇЪ¶}Ó¶ªÆÓܶÐлµ}Ç Ð¨ ¶Ð¶}Ç㻢Ш}ÐЯ»¢Ð¨Z»µµĞ Dan Norton-Smith ıt}ÇòôljÇÅ»ÇÐË
W e’re here because we’re here’, named after the of the enlisted and demoralised troops, saw around 1,400 voluntary participants dressed in First World War uniform appear unexpectedly in locations across the UK. This was a huge project commissioned by 14- 18 NOW and conceived and created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller (OA) in collaboration with Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre. Through a secret sign-up process, some Dulwich boys infamous song-cum-mantra (including me) were fortunate to take part in such a historic event. Most memorials you have to go to; this is a memorial that will actually come to you, just when you’re not expecting it or not even knowing about it 2ǵ㠯¯Ç
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