HEARTBREAK and humour from the dark years of World War II will be brought to Smailholm Village next Saturday, September 29, with a production of Keep Smiling Through.
The show started life as a Radio 4 series which told the story of the home front through previously unpublished diaries as well as newspapers and the songs of the time.
Former BBC producer Dave Batchelor believed it would work on stage and it enjoyed a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe as well as in theatres across Scotland.
The show features Scottish actors Crawford Logan, a stalwart of radio drama, and Helen McAlpine from the world of theatre and television.
They are joined by pianist Eric Rice from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music while Batchelor sings and plays the trombone.
The story begins just before the start of the war and for 90 minutes the audience shares the lives of people in Britain over the six years of the conflict – including rationing, the Land Girls, the blitz, the songs, the evacuation and George Formby’s handy hints on various uses of the gas mask.
Tickets available from Linda Kinsman Blake at The Gallery, Smailholm.