Page 26 - QARANC Vol 19 No 2 2021

24 The Gazette QARANC Association
Her War
Her War is a new opera for soprano and trumpet about a traumatised VAD (sung by April Fredrick) who returns from World War 1 only to face many difficulties with the Ministry of Pensions. It was hard for many nurses and VADs who were invalided from the service to provide evidence that their difficulties were caused by their service.
Her War was performed at The Cockpit Theatre, London, on 27 July 2021 and subsequently streamed online.
The material for this new work came largely from the research of Amanda Gwinnup, who is a PhD student in her final year at the University of Huddersfield. Her thesis, provisionally titled ‘Invisible Illnesses and Hidden Disabilities’ is due to be submitted in 2022. It focuses on the post-war experiences of Army nurses and VADs who were left disabled
due to their war service. The disabilities ranged from
short-term to life-long disablement and included physical debility following illnesses such as malaria, dysentery, tuberculosis and influenza
as well as disabilities, such as neurasthenia, relating to the psychological effects of war service.
While undertaking her
PhD Amanda has been
working with the Heritage Committee, helping us to
transfer information about
our Heritage Collection onto
our new online catalogue,
and she has attended a number of our committee meetings.
The staging of this performance was kept very simple with just a desk and chair on the stage along
with a music stand for
Simon playing the trumpet.
April is seen reflecting on
her service and how she
feels now, in preparation for
facing a pensions tribunal.
The voice of the President
of the tribunal is heard from
off stage. Although April is
shown as a VAD the story
was actually based on testimonies from a number
of different cases including
VADs and Army nurses, which in my view, led to a few minor historical
inaccuracies.
The creative team behind
Her War intended it to offer ‘ ...long- overdue recognition of the historical nurses’ contribution... and to highlight
the striking parallels between their experience and that of contemporary nurses processing their own experiences of trauma in the COVID-19 pandemic.’
I think any nurse working through the pandemic who watched this performance would feel a lot in common with the stories of these nurses from WW1, and so
in that regard I think Her War was a success.
Following the online performance there was a question and answer session with the performers, production team and Amanda. During this discussion it was clear that there was a desire to expand this work, or create new work that helped to tell the story of Army nursing. Since then we have met up with the creative team behind Her War to see if we can find a way to collaborate on future projects... so watch
this space!
Keiron Spires
Chair QARANC Association Heritage Committee
Music: Edwin Roxburgh Words: Jonathan Ruffle Soprano: April Fredrick Trumpet: Simon Desbruslais Academic Advisors:
Dr Christine Hallett, Amanda Gwinnup, Denise Poynter Costumes and Historical Advisor: History Needs You
The staging of this performance was kept very simple with just a desk and chair on the stage
I think any nurse working through the pandemic who watched this performance would feel a lot in common with the stories
April Fredrick singing the role of the VAD in Her War. Photograph by Claire Shovelton; released on Creative Commons Licence CC BY-NC-ND2.0 Not to be copied.