Their Finest Hour

"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say,

This was their finest hour."

Winston Churchill 18th June 1940

In March 2023 I got the chance to shoot the stage production ‘Their Finest Hour’ written by Steve Darlow, directed by Joe Malyan and produced by Auriole Wells. I was able to cover the two dress rehearsals including a final one at Waterloo East Theatre in London before opening night. For those of you who haven’t been to Waterloo East Theatre, for this particular production, I felt it almost added a nice dynamic that it is in the archway of an old railway bridge with the sound of rumbling trains overhead, it really helped to set the ambiance.

‘Their Finest Hour’ is a story or rather a collection of various veteran’s stories to tell the broader story of the Second World War. It’s an innovative way of story telling with the cast of 8 playing over 100 characters between them. The Story takes the audience through survival at Dunkirk, battling the odds during the Battle of Britain, braving the Blitz, building the bomber offensive and daring the D-Day landings in Normandy.

“It’s the day of Bert’s funeral. He’s an RAF Veteran of the Second World War and his family have gathered at his home for his last farewell, when they discover an old suitcase full of memorabilia in his attic. There’s a photo… ‘Me and Jamie, a bit worse for wear after a night out in London’ … ‘That was a night to remember. I’ll say no more. Our last day of leave. Within 24 hours of that picture we were over Germany again.”

It's a grand undertaking to tell such a large subject matter using the extraordinary stories of ordinary people but an undertaking that has been done so very well. Through the dedication of the production team and the cast themselves, they’ve projected with passion, the stories of those ordinary citizens.

Allow me to introduce the cast;

I loved working on this project with some truly talented and passionate people that, like myself, care about story telling. For me telling the stories of veterans and our history is incredibly important and one that I will always support.