SALISBURY Arts Centre and The Salisbury Museum are working in partnership to present a powerful play that marks the centenary of the First World War.

Written by poet and playwright Alex Gwyther, Our Friends, The Enemy explores the events surrounding the famous Christmas truce. The acclaimed one-man show combines theatre and spoken word to tell some of the most astounding stories of the Great War through the eyes of one soldier.

Gwyther initially wrote the piece as a spoken word poem, which he performed in front of a thousand-strong audience during the Mayor of London’s Week of Peace. He said: “Everyone knows the story of the football match which has made the story so famous, but many people don’t know that the football match was one incident of many individual truces which happened across the Front Line during Christmas 1914.

“From German soldiers rolling barrels of beer across the firing lines, bicycle races and cabaret shows to German and Allied soldiers coming together to chase a hare for their Christmas dinner. As I researched more, the story of the Christmas truce became one which I wanted to tell to as many people as possible.”

Our Friends, the Enemy has enjoyed sell out runs at the New Wimbledon Studio, Theatre 503 and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Public performances take place at Salisbury Arts Centre on Wednesday (October 8) at 8pm, with performances for schools being hosted by The Salisbury Museum. Tickets for public performances are £12 or £10 concessions, available from salisbury artscentre.co.uk or on 01722 321744. A post show chat will be chaired by The Salisbury Museum.