devils on horseback
the play
2017
On trial for their religion, politics, and human conscience, relive the secret hearings of men who resisted being drafted into the armed forces in the midst of a conflict that would shape the world.
Written by Journalist, Historian, and Professor of Radio, Tim Crook, this play brings to life the Brockley postman who said no, the Deptford padre who won a VC saving lives in No Man's Land, the Labour activist who made the ultimate sacrifice and became Deptford's first woman Mayor, the press baron who plotted to have the 'conchies' shot at dawn and the Mayor who said yes.
Set in the very chamber where the trials took place and based on new academic research which is revealing striking new details that paint a vivid picture of local life during one of the most turbulent periods in world history.
Devils on Horseback: Secret Trials of Deptford's Conscientious Objectors is a site-specific performance bringing to life the stories of genuine conscientious objectors of the so-called, Great War, 100 years later.
As the only military tribunal in Britain to hold their trials in camera (no public or press) their stories are dramatised from memoirs of the 'conchies' researched in the Imperial War Museum, London by Prof. Crook. The play's initial run at Deptford Town Hall (in the council chamber where these trials took place, 100 years ago) attracted a great deal of media attention including an interview on BBC Radio London, feature in The Evening Standard, OpenDemocracy.net, LondonMultiMediaNews.com and TheConversation.com. The performance received amazing reviews, many from audience VIPs including actress, Ruth Wilson, world-leading peace activist, Bruce Kent, playwright & director, Richard Shannon, Mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock and Goldsmiths Warden, Pat Loughrey.
The project concurrently raised £1,800 which was donated in full towards the Jay Merriman-Mukuro scholarship for students of lesser-privileged backgrounds to study the MA Radio programme.
uk tour & film
2018
Following the company’s success at Deptford Town Hall and considering the somewhat national interest in its premiere, Creative Vortex announced the 2018 tour of Devils on Horseback.The play toured across the country to both non-conventional venues sympathetic to the content of the piece, and theatre spaces.
The tour began at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden, followed by Fort Burgoyne in Dover (a Military Fort built in the 1860s which opened to the local public for the first time on this occasion), the Zion Baptist Church in Cambridge, Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds, a Victorian courtroom in Middlesbrough Town Hall, finishing the tour at the Sands Film Studio theatre in Rotherhithe.
Following the great success of the play's initial run, this was adapted into a 65-minute long feature film.
production photos
