WELLINGTON THE PLAY

Co-written by Martin Wimbush and director Ellis Jones with music by Benedict Cruft, the play is set at Walmer Castle, Kent, where Wellington was Warden of the Cinque Ports. Here in the confines of his small room, we come face to face with the old Duke looking back over his extraordinary life.

As the play progresses we gain insights into the Duke's character through various incidents in his personal and public life, and in so doing get closer to the private man beneath the public face, expertly portrayed by Martin Wimbush. The result is a moving, sensitive and often contradictory view of the tragedy of war.

The first Duke of Wellington is undoubtedly one of Britain's greatest national heroes. A supreme General during the tussles with France for European supremacy in the early years of the 19th century, the 'Iron Duke' outmanoeuvred and ultimately defeated the French army in the Peninsula War and, most famously, Napoleon at Waterloo.

Later, Wellington became Prime Minister and a noted elder statesman. Having survived the most extreme ravages of war, he died at Walmer Castle in 1852, and was buried with great pomp and ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral.