MEMBERS of Weymouth’s Ridgeway Centre drama group staged a special performance of their First World War play to an audience including the borough’s mayor.

Visitors crowded into the centre’s main hall to see Only Remembered, the group’s imaginative interpretation of the Great War’s events which drew on song, dance and vignettes.

Members of the drama group transformed themselves into an array of horses, tanks, maypole dancers, nurses, soldiers and mothers on the home front throughout the event.

The audience were given song books featuring It’s a Long Way to Tipperary and Only Remembered, along with poems such as For The Fallen, which members of the public could sing along to or read during the performance. The play was the same one which was performed at Cllr Kate Wheller’s mayor-making ceremony in May.

The Ridgeway Centre is a community resource for adults with a learning disability.

Director of the play, Peter Wilson, explained that their production featured many folk songs because they were important for keeping morale high among troops.

He said: “We have a drama group [at the centre] – it’s one of our courses and this is just one of our productions.

“It gives the guys so much confidence; a lot of them have not done anything like this before and it gives them self-esteem. They love putting on a show.”

Cllr Wheller said: “They did this performance as part of my mayor-making but they are much more polished now. It’s fantastic and it’s the highlight of my year.

“This centre is such a little jewel in Weymouth that we should be proud to have on our doorstep. The staff here show such patience and such dedication, it’s very humbling to see.”

The group will be putting on a performance for key stage two children at Beechcroft School next week.