To Fight Or Not To Fight

Sep 21, 2012, 09:25 PM

Short drama following the Tribunal of a Conscientious Objector during the First World War. Commissioned as a heritage soundscape by DAFX. This installation tells a story inspired by events that took place in around the Council Chamber of York's Guildhall in 1916. It seeks not to re-enact the words, but instead to take a wider range of voices, using words from the archive to weave together a sound scape of the opinions of citizens about the sanctity of life and death.

The words are found from Hansard, Friends Records, Yorkshire Press, because the original records of the tribunals were destroyed by the military in 1921. Although you don't get the impact when you hear it as a mixed soundscape rather than the voices dispersed from within York's Guildhall Chamber, please do have a listen.

Imagine sitting in a wooden courtroom where we re-enacted the drama with the only lighting being from the desk lamps, and the voices of the Judge infront of you, the voices of the plaintiff and witnesses adjacent to you from the well of the Chamber, and the voices from the Public Gallery behind you.

Producer Credits: Jon Calver & Helen Weinstein. Researcher Intern Credits: Sam Johnson, Joe Muller, Catherine Oakley. Voices: Ewan Bailey, Sheila Bradburn, Jon Calver, Alana Gibb, Adam Gutteridge, Ian Hardwick, Sam Johnson, Catherine Oakley, John Oxley, Henrietta Titcombe, Philip Titcombe.

http://historyworks.tv/