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As reported by insideMORAY on 17 October, Burghead Bay’s Roseisle beach is one of six Scottish beaches taking part in ‘Pages of the Sea’, Danny Boyle’s Armistice Day commission for 14-18 NOW, which marks the centenary of the end of the First World War.
The title of the event is inspired by the last line in a new poem by Carol Ann Duffy, The Wound in Time, written to mark the centenary of Armistice Day, which was released yesterday.
The event will see thousands of people gather on beaches across the UK and the Republic of Ireland for an informal, nationwide gesture of remembrance on 11 November 2018.
In preparation for the event, a public workshop will be held at St John’s Lodge, Forres, from 2 to 3.30pm on Saturday 3 November, hosted by Findhorn Bay Arts and the National Theatre of Scotland.
Simon Sharkey, Associate Director of National Theatre of Scotland, alongside local facilitators Ruby Worth and James Chitty will explain what Pages of the Sea is and why people should take part. They will relay and expand on Danny Boyle’s vision and connect the elements of sand pictures, poems, memories and personal and community reflection. The workshop will also be a place to share stories of the local fallen and explore the area and its stories.
Carol Ann Duffy’s poem will be shared and there will be opportunities to read it personally and together, in pairs, between different generations and as a group finding a collective voice.
The Wound in Time
It is the wound in Time. The century’s tides,
chanting their bitter psalms, cannot heal it.
Not the war to end all wars; death’s birthing place;
the earth nursing its ticking metal eggs, hatching
new carnage. But how could you know, brave
as belief as you boarded the boats, singing?
The end of God in the poisonous, shrapneled air.
Poetry gargling its own blood. We sense it was love
you gave your world for; the town squares silent,
awaiting their cenotaphs. What happened next?
War. And after that? War. And now? War. War.
History might as well be water, chastising this shore;
for we learn nothing from your endless sacrifice.
Your faces drowning in the pages of the sea.
Carol Ann Duffy, 2018
To attend the free workshop please book your place on https://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/production/pages-of-the-sea/ticket/15601/
More information on the workshop is available on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/754750338202890/