Aylesbury Waterside Theatre – Bravo 22 Company Project Opens

Bravo 22 Company, (The Royal British Legion’s Recovery Through Theatre programme), run by The Royal British Legion in association with Aylesbury Waterside Theatre and supported by LAMDA, opened their hard-hitting production, Contact to a standing ovation on 26 March.

Funded by the Buckinghamshire Community Covenant and The Royal British Legion, the production features cast members from the Bucks’ Military Community and is based on true-life stories giving an insight into the lives of wounded, injured and sick forces personnel and the effects of military life upon families.

Cast member Sgt Adam said: ‘This is the story about military life that you don’t see on TV. This is a story you’ve got to tell.’

The sell-out show covers themes including transition into civilian life, recovery and rehabilitation, providing an insight into the challenges faced by Armed Forces families and exploring themes of military interaction on the battlefield and at home. The play features real-life accounts from cast members starring in the show. Stories featured include; a military wife whose husband returns from Afghanistan for the birth of their first child, a veteran struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after leaving the Forces and an RAF Officer who must face reintegrating into civilian life when he retires.

Director Stephen Rayne said: It’s important that the people who come to watch the play are those that are ignorant to it. It is lovely that military come and see it but they kind of know the story because they’ve lived with it’

Written by Roz Wyllie, the Bravo 22 Company project uses theatre as a catalyst designed to help the military community build self-esteem, confidence and motivation. The unique theatre project was first created by Alice Driver for the Theatre Royal Haymarket and launched in partnership with the Legion and the MOD in 2011, bringing audiences the critically acclaimed ‘The Two Worlds of Charlie F’.

Money raised at the performances from public donations will go towards the Legion’s vital work providing social, emotional and financial support to serving and ex-Service people and their families 365 days a year. The project has been financed by the Legion and match funded by Buckinghamshire’s Armed Forces Community Covenant scheme.

For more information on Bravo 22 Company visit www.britishlegion.org.uk/bravo22