160 Pages
ISBN 978-1-917120-56-2
Colour Images
 
There is a long history of theatrical performances in prisoner of war camps as both captors and captives alike have recognised the benefits of encouraging artistic and creative expression. For POWs, the organisation, performance, and patronage of camp theatre served to reduce apathy, stimulate creativity, and produce a powerful sense of solidarity, community, and identity. For the camp authorities, the granting of artistic and performance privileges was regarded as a means towards diverting the prisoner’s mental energy away from escape activities.

The opportunity to either perform on stage or to take part in the production of plays and reviews behind the barbed wire produced not only a sense of purpose, but for some POWs including Peter Butterworth, John Casson, Rupert Davies, Roy Dotrice, and Cy Grant, camp theatricals also provided the foundations for their successful future careers on the stage and screen. At Stalag Luft III, the purpose-built theatre in the North Compound also had a purpose beyond pure entertainment in that it provided useful cover for escape activities, most notably for ‘The Great Escape’ and the construction of a fourth tunnel that was to be reserved for emergency use.