Scamp Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic one-man show Private Peaceful, a powerful story of hope by Michael Morpurgo returns to the region next month. Fresh from sell-out runs in London’s West End, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and an off Broadway run, this moving production returns to The Lowry from Mon 2 February, where in 2005 it won a Manchester Evening News Award for Best Actor in a Studio Production.

Private Peaceful relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young First World War soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn. During the night he looks back at his short but joyful past growing up in rural Devon: his exciting first days at school; the accident in the forest that killed his father; his adventures with Molly, the love of his life; and the battles and injustices of war that brought him to the front line.

This remarkable book, winner of the 2005 Blue Peter Book of the Year award, is the latest by the third Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo. The inspiration for Private Peaceful came from Morpurgo’s visit to Ypres where he was shocked to discover how many young soldiers were court-martialled and shot for cowardice during the First World War. Michael Morpurgo’s reputation in the world of children’s books is unparalleled, having won the 1995 Whitbread Award for The Wreck of the Zanzibar, the 1996 Smarties Book Prize for The Butterfly Lion and the 2000 Children’s Book Award for Kensuke’s Kingdom.

Private Peaceful is adapted and directed for the stage by Bristol Old Vic’s former Artistic Director Simon Reade. His previous adaptations include Ted Hughes’ Tales from Ovid and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children both for the RSC as well as Philip Pullman’s Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp for Bristol Old Vic.

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