A HOME-GROWN production telling a poignant tale of sacrifice and redemption during the First World War is winging its way to the bright lights of the Edinburgh Festival.

Penned by Ovington playwright Sue Saunders, White Poppies is mired in local history and revolves around the residents of a fictional version of Prudhoe – Byford village.

The play follows a school project to trace family history which sees one student unravel the tragic history of Tom Hedley, a young miner who enlists underage to serve king and country only to find himself accused of cowardice.

Sue, who has also written a play about Anne Frank, said: “When I came to live in Tynedale the story of White Poppies grew in my mind.

“The places around my new home became the setting. In my imagination the big hall was Bywell, and Byford village is a mixture of Prudhoe, Mickley and Stocksfield.

“The schoolteacher who encourages Tom is called Mr Mariner, which I believe was the name of the head of Broomley School in the early 1900s.

“An encounter with a fox protected from the hounds by the peace-loving young lord of the manor, was based on a tale told to me by an eldery lady who worked as a maid with Lady Redesdale.

“I imagined Tom and his mother living on the west road up to Hedley and the house where Tom’s mother and the doctor take refuge I envisaged as a house on the edge of Whittle Dene – you can still just see a few of the ruins.

“I also took to looking at the names on all the war memorials around the area.”

Featuring a cast of 13 young local actors, White Poppies has been put together by Keel Row Productions a company established by Sue and director, John MacDonald, from Acomb.

And it is a real family affair as John is ably assisted in his work by his wife and assistant director Beverly Warhurst and even his 92-year-old mother Mary is getting involved as a prompt.

John, who has recently retired from his job as a lecturer at Tyne Metropolitan College, has a long-held association with the People’s Theatre in Newcastle where he has been a member for 26 years, working alongside comedian Ross Noble, and Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys, among others.

He said: “A year ago Sue came to me and said she wanted to take a play to Edinburgh and I said ‘yes’; I didn’t need persuading – it was always something I’ve wanted to do.

“Normally you need 18 months to take a show to Edinburgh but the standard of commitment from the whole company has been very impressive.

“The play looks back at the key social contexts of the First World War.

“And the nice thing about White Poppies is that it asks questions, it doesn’t answer them.”

White Poppies opened yesterday at Paradise in the Vault in Edinburgh and will run until Sunday.

The play will join two other Keel Row Productions at the festival, Sue Saunders’ Wordsworth’s Sister and A Spoonful of Honey by Tony Gannie.

White Poppies was previewed at Prudhoe’s St Mary Magdalene Church Hall on Wednesday, complete with a British Sign Language Interpreter.