“Affecting and absorbing, Human Battles is a touching tribute to a local experience of war.”

A great evening for the opening of audio / visual exhibition Galsworthy and Human Battles on the Home Front, produced by Digital Drama for The Rose Theatre.  Ken Smith, Mayor of Kingston, spoke of Galsworthy’s humanitarian campaigns and the South West London Military Wives Choir sang for guests including the exhibition’s local contributors.

Four stars for the exhibition from Alexandra Sims of The Upcoming:

“The exhibition not only unearths the much-forgotten philanthropy of one of London’s greatest author’s but also, through local stories, connects us to an event that a century on can feel extremely distant. The combination of personal tales and Galsworthy’s biography all framed within the context of the war creates an exhibition large in scope, yet with intimate and meaningful layers that speak to us today. Small touches such as the diary excerpts and letters, written by local soldiers and the embroidered postcards written with messages of love from the front, give an intimate touch making their sacrifices seem all the more devastating.

The audio element is particularly moving, as hearing the voices of soldier’s children and grandchilden as well as their undergoing rehabilitation at Headley Court make the exhibit all the more poignant. Affecting and absorbing, Human Battles is a touching tribute to a local experience of war.”

Click here for full review and here for the Galsworthy project page.

Galsworthy related images courtesy of Cadbury Research Library and Special Collections, University of Birmingham.