Bird Song: Bittersweet symphony

Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks’ powerful wartime novel, is adapted for the stage & comes to the Theatre Royal Brighton

Birdsong, adapted from Sebastian Faulks’ much loved wartime epic novel, an intimate story of love and sacrifice set against the backdrop of the Western Front, visits the Theatre Royal Brighton for a week long run from Monday 29 July to Saturday 3 August.


In pre-war France, young Englishman Stephen Wraysford embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with his host’s wife, Isabelle Azaire. As civil unrest mounts and war breaks in on the idyll of his former life, Stephen finds he must now lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and the sprawling tunnels that lie deep underground. Faced with unprecedented horror, the war-hardened Stephen clings to the shrinking memory of Isabelle as his world explodes around him.

Birdsong was ranked 13th in the 2003 BBC survey The Big Read, finding the nation’s favourite book. The novel was adapted for TV by Abi Morgan for a BBC1 series which was broadcast in January 2012.

As Rachel Wagstaff, who adapted the novel for stage, tells us: “Birdsong is an incredibly powerful novel, and through the story of Faulks’ fictional characters, we can understand what it might have been like for individuals caught up in this most extraordinary period of world history. 

Given the approaching centenary of The Great War, it is vital that the courage and sacrifices of those who fought and died are not only remembered, but understood. Lest we forget; lest we let suffering on such a scale ever happen again.” 

Monday 29 July – Saturday 3 August, Eves 7.45pm,
Thu & Sat mats 2.30pm,
£10–£25
0844 871 7650 (bkg fee)*
www.atgtickets.com/brighton*
*Booking fee