Heroes,

Brunel Centre, Swindon

One bench, three men and a stone statue of a dog was the content of a hilarious play that was performed at Swindon’s Brunel Centre in Swindon on Thursday night (September 11).

‘Heroes’ is a comedy which is set in a French military retirement home and it had its intimate audience in a fit of giggles from the very start of the performance.

An unusual area for a play to be staged, it was situated in the ground floor of the Brunel Arcade, just outside Boswells and House of Fraser.

The audience were treated to supper and a glass of wine before the show started and it helped set the mood for a relaxed evening’s viewing.

This highly polished comedy, performed by professional actors, tells the story of three First World War veterans who plot their escape from the mundane life of living in a care home. The quartet of characters (if you include the dog of course) all seem to have a love/hate relationship with each other but they all agree they need to get out and see the poplars that are far away on a hill in the distance.

Heroes is Tom Stoppard’s translation and adaptation of the 2003 French play ‘Le Vent Des Peupliers’ by Gérald Sibleyras. The original production opened at London's Wyndham's Theatre in October 2005 and it has been a great success ever since.

Overall, the evening - which helped to commemorate the centenary of the Great War - was the sort of night that definitely needs to be repeated.

It was relevant, funny, classy and made you realise there is so much more that the town centre is capable of doing to help make entertainment in Swindon more varied and interesting. - Kelly Jobanputra