Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Writer’s play based on WWI soldiers’ letters

Letters to Aberlour is a new theatre production by New Strides Theatre which draws upon the letters that 'old boys' from the Aberlour Orphanage wrote to the orphanage during the First World War. The play is written by Coldinghams James Urquhart
Letters to Aberlour is a new theatre production by New Strides Theatre which draws upon the letters that 'old boys' from the Aberlour Orphanage wrote to the orphanage during the First World War. The play is written by Coldinghams James Urquhart

A professional writer has based his new play on the heart-rending letters sent home to Moray by World War I soldiers.

Letters to Aberlour draws upon the real letters that old boys wrote to Aberlour Orphanage during the conflict.

Writer James Urquhart said: “About 250 orphanage boys participated in the war and letters from about 90 of these soldiers still survive, including letters from some of the 62 who died.

“For the standards of the time, the orphanage was an incredibly caring place and it’s clear that many of these young men were very attached to it.

“They write about the war but they also write of their longing to return to Aberlour.

“And they write about their sorrow at the loss of other old boys from the orphanage whom they regard as brothers.

“The letters show that the soldiers considered themselves members of a single extended family. But unlike a conventional family which might have perhaps three or four members involved in the war, the Aberlour family shared the experiences of hundreds.”

The orphanage was established in 1875 with the ethos that every child had the ability and right to grow up and flourish in society.

After the 1914-1918 conflict it dedicate a war memorial to those who had fallen. More names were added after World War II.

It eventually closed in 1967 as the focus changed towards placing orphaned children with families.

Although the original letters are thought to be lost, many were published at the time in the orphanage’s monthly magazine – copies of which are still held at the British Library.

Mr Urquhart is currently in the process of looking for funding from arts organisations so that Letters to Aberlour, which features parts for five actors, can tour the UK.

However, he has issued a promise. “Come hell or high water, whatever happens with the funding, we will perform the play in Aberlour,” he said.

In addition to the play, Mr Urquhart has also devised a parallel activity in which cast members visit primary schools in costume to talk about the war and answer questions.

To register an interest schools can contact the New Strides Theatre company on jurq99@gmail.com