STROUD Football Poets & Spaniel in the Works Theatre Company present Trenchcoats for Goalposts at the Subscription Rooms on Saturday, December 12.

The Christmas Truce of 1914 will be re-created with the actors in authentic 1914 squaddie garb, tinsel for barbed wire and football for a unique performance of humour, history and poignancy.

Inspired by local stories, memories and true vents, Stroud’s performers and musicians will turn the stage into Flanders Fields.

Through the use of theatre, spoken word, live music and song from the Jovial Foresters, the original ‘home’ of Forest Green FC, the audience is transported to ‘No Man’s Land’ as Christmas approaches, following the journey of two Forest Green players from Nailsworth to the front.

Crispin Thomas, of the Football Poets, said: “It was while living in Forest Green in the early 80s that I first began to find out more and more about the Christmas Day Truce, initially from working as Chelsea’s Poet with Pensioners at Stamford Bridge.

“I also discovered how, among the thousands of brave souls who gave their lives, there had been many professional and amateur footballers involved and even Footballers’ Battalions formed.

“Our aim here has been to imagine what it would have been like to leave these villages as a local player and go to the front back then.”

  • Trenchcoats for Goalposts is at the Stroud Subscription Rooms on Saturday, December 12; 8pm. Tickets £8 in advance or £10 on the door. For more information visit subscriptionrooms.org.uk