VIDEOS: National Theatre's Moving Street Performance Across the UK Commemorates The Battle of The Somme

As reported by BroadwayWorld, commuters and pedestrians across the UK were surprised by a moving work of street theatre on July 1st, as 1,500 volunteers took part in a living memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

Regarded as mankind's bloodiest battle, the four-and-a-half month long World War I offensive between The Combined forces of Britain and France against Germany began on July 1st, 1916. There were 19,240 men killed on that first day alone.

Titled "we're here because we're here," the work was conceived and created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller in collaboration with Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre. The project involved 27 theatre companies and organizations nationwide, such as Lyric Theatre Belfast, Manchester Royal Exchange, National Theatre Wales, National Theatre Scotland, Northern Stage, Playhouse, Derry-Londonderry, Salisbury Playhouse, Sheffield Theatres and Theatre Royal Plymouth.

Volunteers dressed in First World War uniforms appeared unexpectedly in train stations, public squares and shopping centers across the UK, singing the spirit-lifting song the men they represent sang a century ago, "We're Here Because We're Here."

Aside from singing, the participants remained silent. If passers-by asked what they were doing, or approached for any reason, they would offer a card with information about a British soldier who died on that day.

"I wanted to make a contemporary memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme," says Deller. "One that moved around the UK with an unpredictability in which the participants took the work directly to the public."

"This work by Jeremy Deller is a truly national piece of theatre," says Norris, "and is a powerful way to remember the men who went off to fight 100 years ago. I also hope it will serve as a catalyst to strengthen ties with theatres and communities across the UK."

Visit nationaltheatre.org.uk.