“I thought I might have to go on without you”

Called up to fight in World War II in the summer of 1940, the Manchester Guardian journalist Gerard Fay joined the army as an ordinary soldier while his wife Alice or ‘Loll’ (short for Lollipop) remained in the north of England.

On the 80th Anniversary year of VE Day, Dear Loll brings to the stage the compelling correspondence between the young couple. The thousands of intimate letters are their only means of communication and are full of drama, humour and emotion. Writing virtually every day, sometimes twice a day, their correspondence over four years is previously unheard testimony to the experiences of ordinary people in World War II and gives a fascinating insight into how one couple survived, both physically and mentally. They describe the warp and weft of a marriage and the loneliness of separation – a grief that was shared by tens of thousands.

During WWII, the importance of mail to the armed forces was said to be second only to food.

Daisy Waterstone

ITV's The Durrells

Charlie Hamblett

Netflix's Missing You!

With live onstage music from the Le Page Ensemble

Adapted by

Rosanna Greenstreet and Matthew Fay

Directed by

Judy Reaves

Music Arranged and Directed by

David Le Page

"Dear Loll", is perfectly pitched between personal anxieties, intimacy, affection and the worries of the wider world: Loll managing with - or despite - best efforts of those around her, Gerard excited to be making progress through the ranks, occasionally chastened for his exuberance or omissions, all beautifully done – including the balancing of the two voices, the occasional shift to dialogue, and Loll's cumulative list of day-by-days with no reply, etc. The postman reading the telegram in advance was perfect. And so many interesting facts. Who could imagine someone serving in the Brecons sending his washing home? Or the flowers in the post saga? And the fact that - if I got this right - an officer has to pay his own batman? Good to see that growing horror of the fox-hunting classes and their multiplicitous Bugattis. I could go on. Just great, excellent, really enjoyable, engaging, informative in a way and moving at the end.

And I was tremendously impressed by the LePage Ensemble - not just the choices (though the Bach - "Jesu, Joy...") has been a favourite since Grade-5 clarinet - and most of the others were in my repertoire courtesy of my clarinettist Dad who played in dancebands with his violinist brother, "In the Mood", "Moonlight Serenade", "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" - nicely ironic choice there: not just the interleaved tunes but the interwoven incidental music, and the playing was superb throughout, pitched just right.

A great evening - and Wilton's is its own kind of special treat.

Cahal Dallat: Poet, Musician and Critic