EDINBURGH 2017: BWW Q&A- The Last Post

The Last Post was composed in 2016 by Alistair MacDonald and was premiered that year in a World War 2 Mess Hall at the Ness Battery on the cliffs of Orkney. Tom Poulson (Trumpet) and Alistair (Electronics) perform the piece which is directed by Susan Worsfold. The piece is inspired by a set over over one hundred letters that Tom's grandfather, DenniS Marshall, wrote to his fiancée in the later part of WW2.

It combines echoes of the famous Last Post Bugle call with sounds of both the popular music and the technology of the 1930s and 40s. The work is a very personal exploration of war and memory in an intimate setting, where audiences surround the performers and can experience the letters together.

The majority of Dennis' letters were written when he was thirty years old and when we come to perform The Last Post Tom will be the exact same age, giving these performances an extra personal connection.

The venue for the piece will be the Army Reserve Centre on East Claremont Street and this will be the very first time that the Army have ever hosted performances at the Fringe (armyatthefringe.org). Curated by Summerhall we are very excited to be part of a diverse programme that revisit their perceptions of what the army means and who the people who served were and what beliefs they themselves held.

The music gives us a way to transport the audience into a different time and place. It is impossible not to associate the sound of the trumpet with images of war, but more particularly with memories of remembrance. Similarly the use of recorded sounds, whether of morse code signals or a 1930's Jazz band, immerse the audience and encourage them to look back into their own memories. During the piece the music literally moves around the space giving each member of the audience their own individual experience of the performance.

The piece deals with universal themes of memory and conflict and so we hope it will appeal to a wide range of audiences from musical and non-musical backgrounds. If we had to be particular though we would recommend anyone who has experience directly or through their family of warfare. Musically we would recommend people who are interested in new music, new technologies, improvisation and brass playing to come and see the show.

Although the letters were written by and to one person in particular they could easily have been written by any of the many millions of soldiers who have served in wars, and the memories they invoke will be personal to people from many walks of life.

On the performance on the 18th August we will be giving a Dementia Friendly Performance for people and their families who are living with dementia. This show has been specially developed to make it as comfortable as possible for the audience while retaining all of the experiences of the other show dates.

We will be hoping to take the work to other interesting sites around the UK. The UK has so many special buildings and areas that retain a strong connection to the different aspects of warfare and we'd love to set the work in some of these spaces. We are also planning to take the work abroad and to hopefully follow the trail of the letters themselves which were written while Dennis was in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Timings and ticket information for The Last Post can be found on the edfringe website.