‘Not About Heroes’ explores poets’ WWI relationship

To mark the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre is staging Stephen McDonald’s “Not About Heroes,” a two-character play that explores the relationship between poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen.

Both men served in the war, and Owen died in combat a week before the Armistice.

In McDonald’s play, they meet in 1917 at the Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh, where Owen has been sent for shell shock and Sassoon has been relegated principally for his public criticisms of the British war aims. The young Owen and older Sassoon strike up a friendship with literature as the bonding agent.

The play incorporates diaries and letters and tells the story in flashbacks. It was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1982 and has enjoyed a long life, being performed in London and New York, adapted for British television and recorded as a radio play for the BBC. There have been a number of subsequent productions in the U.K. and Australia.

Bob Paisley, co-founder of the MET, is directing this show, which features Robert Gibby Brand as Sassoon and Seth Macchi as Owen.

Performances begin Thursday, Nov. 13, and continue through Dec. 7. The MET is at 3614 Main St. Call 816-569-3226 or go to www.metkc.org.

This story was originally published November 12, 2014 at 1:52 PM with the headline "‘Not About Heroes’ explores poets’ WWI relationship."