''A Soldier and a Maker'' is a piece of musical theatre written by

Iain Burnside Iain Burnside is a Scottish classical pianist and accompanist, and an occasional presenter on BBC Radio 3. Following study at Merton College, Oxford, the Royal Academy of Music and the Chopin Academy, in Warsaw he became a freelance pianist, sp ...

on the life story of the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Ivor Gurney Ivor Bertie Gurney (28 August 1890 – 26 December 1937) was an English poet and composer, particularly of songs. He was born and raised in Gloucester. He suffered from bipolar disorder through much of his life and spent his last 15 years in psy ...

. It premiered in April 2012 at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

, with

Richard Goulding Richard Goulding (born 1980/1981) is a British actor, best known for playing Prince Harry in the 2014 stage play ''King Charles III'', and its 2017 BBC TV adaptation, as well as in the 2016 television series '' The Windsors''. Education Gould ...

as Gurney. The production was designed by Giuseppe and Emma Belli. It was later adapted into a radio play broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

on 29 June 2014 as part of the "Music in the Great War" season. The radio adaptation retained many of the stage cast.

Cast

Reception

The show was praised for its book and for Goulding's performance as Gurney. There was some criticism of some of the supporting cast's acting.

References

External links

"Iain Burnside presents ''A Soldier and a Maker''"
Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Retrieved 7 July 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Soldier and a Maker 2012 plays Plays about World War I British plays