Blighty (1914-1918)

'Blighty (1914-1918)' is a historical anti-war stage play perfect for schools and colleges wanting to engage students with the issue of war.

August 1914: Germany declares war. The British military recruitment drive for World War 1 swings into action. Young women begin to shame the young men who don't join up. Moving to the trenches, the play portrays the reality for those caught up in the terrible conflict, from the ordinary soldier, to volunteer nurses, to the officers faced with an impossible task of winning a few yards of territory on the battlefield. Getting home-leave to "Blighty" is the only respite for war-weary young British soldiers who long to escape from the horrors of war.

Find out more about World War 1 at Imperial War Museums (iwm.org.uk)

Jeffrey Grenfell-Hill trained for the professional theatre at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he was chosen to be student director in the final year. After a tour of American colleges, universities and performing arts centres, he was invited to join the examining board of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

His poems have appeared in Penguin and Heinemann anthologies. Samuel French have published his plays, and his monologues for young actors have been published by Oberon Books in an anthology edited by Shaun McKenna. His monologues and duologues have been chosen for the LAMDA examination syllabus for the acting exams as 'setpieces'. They are often performed as 'own choice' selections at major festivals of Speech and Drama. Jeffrey himself is an adjudicator of many years' standing with a doctorate from the University of Wales. He was Director of Sixth Form Studies at St George's School, Harpenden, where he taught A/S and A level Theatre Studies.

Jeffrey remains an examiner for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and in this capacity examines both in the UK and overseas.