The Jay Walkers are an award-winning touring theatre group bringing high-quality theatre to local venues. This year their spring tour commemorates the centenary of the start of the First World War. They have chosen venues which are also war memorials and the programme will commemorate the names of men of the villages of Riddlesden, Cononley, Kettlewell and Pool who died in the war.

The Jay Walkers are staging Not About Heroes, Stephen MacDonald’s play set in the Great War, focusing on Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen meeting while both in hospital suffering from shell shock. It was there that Sassoon nurtured the writing talents of the young Wilfred Owen, who became the greatest of our war poets.

The play, described as warm, poignant and occasionally funny, examines their friendship; sharing their frustration, fear and bravery. David Nicholson and Matt Gardner perform and Jamesine Cundell-Walker directs.

Jamesine has directed musicals for Keighley Amateurs over recent years, Matt Gardner is a regular with Keighley Amateurs and other societies including Keighley Playhouse where he recently took on the lead role in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture Of Dorian Grey, and David Nicholson is a Skipton actor.

Not About Heroes runs at Riddlesden Memorial Institute on Friday, May 9, and at Cononley Village Institute on Saturday, May 10, with both performances starting at 7.30pm.

Half the door takings go to the upkeep of the halls and a raffle will raise funds for the British Legion and Help for Heroes. For more information follow the link on our website.

For tickets call (01756) 760302 or visit thejaywalkers.co.uk.