A NEW stage production, which can be seen at Ledbury's Market Theatre as part of Ledbury Poetry Festival, will give a fresh voice to war poetry from the last hundred years.

In The Hundred Years War: the Somme to Afghanistan, 35 poems are performed by three actors, each chronicling times of war and conflict, with verse from aggressor and victim, soldier and civilian, fusing poetry and theatre to create a unique performance, vividly enacting profound human experiences of war.

Produced by Midlands Creative Projects in association with the Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Bloodaxe Books, The Hundred Years’ War is based on the eponymous anthology of poetry edited by Neil Astley, published by Bloodaxe Books.

Jonathan Davidson, executive producer of The Hundred Years’ War, commented: “The intention is to present poetry in a new way, stepping away from the traditional recitation of verse and instead performing the poems so that they become rich with life.

“That old perception of poetry as something that has to be studied stops people from realising just how good it really is. The material we are working with is so visceral, so heart-breaking, that it deserves to be performed to maximum impact.”

Amongst the poems chosen for The Hundred Years War are French and German views of trench warfare in World War One and visions of life on the home front in the Second World War.

There are searing personal accounts of loss and violence in Bosnia, and the words of a Vietnamese fighter who has shot a friend from childhood, the old ties severed by war. A Taliban fighter’s voice is heard in writing from the present-day conflict in Afghanistan.

The Hundred Years War is at The Market Theatre on Wednesday, July 8 at 8.30pm. To book, call the box office on 01531 636232 or visit poetry-festival.co.uk