Billy Bishop Goes to War
DIRECTED BY JIMMY WALTERS.
24 November 2018
Overview
“It was a different world up there. A different war.”
Canada 1914. Billy Bishop signs up to fight in Europe and is soon in a military training camp. But one day, he spots a single-seater plane circling overhead. Overcoming intense prejudice and astonishing danger, Billy becomes the most successful fighter pilot of his generation. This play with songs explores the complexities of heroism, the cost of war, and Britain’s colonial past. A true story. A deceptively simple and totally gripping theatrical experience.
Billy Bishop Goes to War won the Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Award in 1981, the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award in 1982 and the Governor General’s Award for English Drama in 1982. It is the most performed play in Canadian theatre.
Jimmy Walters is Artistic Director of Proud Haddock. He previously directed The Dog Beneath The Skin at Jermyn Street Theatre. Other productions include Mrs Orwell (Southwark Playhouse) and The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus (Finborough Theatre).
People
Billy Bishop
Older Billy Bishop
Playwright
Playwright
Director
Set and costume design
Lighting design
Sound design
Music
Media
“A gem of theatricality. Often funny, but just as often deeply moving.”
On Gray and Peterson's script
“Forever timely.”
On Gray and Peterson's script
“Incredibly moving.”
“Superb.”
“Beautiful.”
“Absolutely phenomenal.”