From left: Jonny Ball (Raleigh), David Nagaj (Hibbert), Alistair Henfrey (Osborne)

Royal Grammar School (RGS) Newcastle students perform their final performance of R. C. Sherriff’s Journey’s End this evening, capping off a series of shows that have been warmly welcomed by audiences at the school’s Performing Arts Centre.

Journey’s End, written in 1928, covers the experiences of officers of a British Army infantry company in World War I in the trenches near Saint-Quentin near the end of the war.

The play is directed by Trevor Walters, one of the school’s drama teachers, and forms part of the national centenary commemoration of the outbreak of WWI.

“In a school like RGS, this still has tremendous resonance, as there is a long list of ex-pupils who joined up in exactly the same way as RC Sherriff once did and who gave their lives on the Western Front during the Great War,” said Jill Graham, Performing Arts Manager at Royal Grammar School.

Graham noted that the school found difficulty getting costumes for the play, since so many performances are being held to commemorate the Great War this year. “We’ve really had to push the boat out financially to make sure the actors look just right: as one of the great naturalistic dramas of the early 20th century, it’s not a show where you can cut corners on period detail,” she added.

The young actors were part of a febrile atmosphere: Jonny Ball, a 16-year-old student who acts as 2nd Lieutenant Raleigh, said he was quite excited for the play, but also felt nervous. “No matter how many times you play, you always feel nervous,” he admitted.

The actors, who are all “from the top end of the school,” according to Graham, were auditioned at the end of summer. It took them three months to prepare for this play, including countless rehearsals since September, set design, and scene arrangement.

One audience member told JesmondLocal that they found the play “a wonderful experience. I have seen the performances of Royal Grammar School for many times, but never this close. The actors are really amazing.”

“It is definitely the worst experience, just because they [the audience] are so close!” said David Nagaj, a 16-year-old student who plays the role of 2nd Lieutenant Hibbert. “When I walked down the stairs, suddenly I realised how close they are – it’s like they are onstage!”