Not About Heroes

Dulce et decorum est/Pro patria mori, facetiously penned British poet Wilfred Owen, who was soon to die in the Great War. It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. This moving play is about the poetic life and the inter relationship between two of the finest Great War poets: Owen who died and Siegfried Sasson who didn't. Told by means of letters and poetry, Not About Heroes paints a vivid picture of the war.

The play was first produced by the Dundee Rep at the Netherbow, Edinburgh on 18 August 1982. The production was awarded a Fringe First by the Scotsman. It toured and came into the King’s Head, was adapted for Yorkshire TV and BBC Radio 4 all in 1983. In 1986, the play came to the Royal National Theatre and a national tour took place the following year. It received its US premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and transferred to New York in 1985. Edward Hermann and Dylan Baker both won OBIE awards for their performances of the poets.