A PERFORMANCE of Troupers in Lechlade on Tuesday will bring to life an unsung war effort full of guts, gusto and greasepaint.

New for 2014, Mikron Theatre Company has commissioned Troupers during the centenary year of the First World War.

The year is 1914 and British entertainment is down on its uppers.

A loss of appetite for frivolous pleasures and a dearth of young men find actor-manager Lena Ashwell with a theatre but no audience.

A passionate advocate of ‘art for all’ and determined to do her bit, she assembles a motley bunch of ‘turns’ and books a tour with a difference.

Her Troupers won’t tread the boards of Old Blighty, but the muddy, bloody fields of France.

A little-told story of the Great War, Troupers brings to life the amazingly audacious Concerts At The Front.

Marianne McNamara, Mikron’s artistic director and director of Troupers, said: “By telling Lena Ashwell’s story we are telling the story of the place that the Arts had, and still have, in a struggling society.

“I’m also aware that there will be a lot of companies marking this important centenary.

“We are really interested in having a central character who is female, at a point in history which is often told from a male perspective, and a story about those who entertain and enrich the lives of our service men and women and how that started out.”

See Troupers at The Trout Inn in Lechlade at 7.30pm.

A collection will be taken after the show instead of tickets in advance.

This is an outdoor show. – Emma Dunn