A War of Two Halves

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Theatre (site-specific, historical)

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  • Venue 547
    Tynecastle Park - Tynecastle Park
  • Times vary. Click 'Dates, times and prices' to view the calendar
  • Aug 21-26
  • 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Suitability: 12+ (Guideline)
  • Country: United Kingdom - Scotland
  • Group: This is My Story Productions
  • Warnings and additional info: Involves Walking and Involves negotiating the various stands and access ways in the stadium.
  • Babes in arms policy: Babies do not require a ticket
  • Policy applies to: Children under 2 years
Dates, Times and Prices

Description

2018 Fringe sell-out. 'Devastating emotion' ***** (AllEdinburghTheatre.com). 'Evocative and perfectly pitched' **** (Scotsman). 'I defy you not to have a lump in your throat at the end of the performance' **** (TheEdinburghReporter.co.uk). 1914. Edinburgh's Heart of Midlothian Football Club have won nineteen matches and are on the brink of winning the League Championship. In a show of extraordinary camaraderie and courage, thirteen players enlist to serve in McCrae’s Battalion. This is their story: an evocative, atmospheric and dramatic journey through Tynecastle Park Stadium in a unique, immersive, site-specific performance.

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General venue access

  • Accessible entry: Information not supplied

    • Wheelchair access type: Not fully wheelchair accessible

  • Stairs: Information not supplied

Each venue can contain several space with different accessibly information. Visit the venue page for full venue accessibility info

How and when to make an access booking

Our access tickets service is available to anyone who:

  • Would like to book specific accessibility services, e.g. a hearing loop, audio description headsets, captioning units, seating in relation to the location of the BSL interpreter
  • Requires extra assistance when at a venue
  • Has specific seating requirements
  • Is a wheelchair user
  • Requires a complimentary personal assistant ticket to attend a performance

Steve Meiklejohn 3 days ago

An amazing show. Saw it last year but found it even more moving ‘this year. A wonderfully well told story in the setting of beautiful Tynecastle. The writers said on Kickback this might be the last run of the show so don’t hesitate and get on down to see it, whoever you support even if that’s no one!

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Mike Tivnen 9 days ago

Oh. My. God.

To think we nearly didn’t go because rain was expected and we’d been warned to wear weather-appropriate clothing as the peripatetic performance involved some walking outside*

This is one of the most moving, affecting plays I’ve seen in a while. Cleverly conceived, it shows us the progress of Heart of Midlothian’s 1914-15 season as World War I intervenes and press and public pressure is placed on the players to sign up. Each act takes place in a different part of the ground: We move from director’s box to changing rooms to concourse to improvised trenches in France, and finally, the garden of remembrance to the fallen that exists in the ground. And this points to the real triumph of the play, This is no money-spinning gimmick – it flows seamlessly from the respect that the club has for their history and that of the team that sacrificed so much for their country. The performances are flawless, the engagement you form with the characters they play is intense and … there will be tears in the end. Respect to the club.

* In the end the forecast was wrong, it was largely fair and sunny and anyway so little is in the open air it would have to be pretty squally to spoil the performance.

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Edinburgh Festivals Magazine (5/5 stars) about 5 hours ago

Football's a funny old game. Underneath the often-justified layers of barbarism which critics will papier-mâché it in with colourful tabloid stories, there's a real emotional connection between fans and player...

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British Theatre.com (5/5 stars) 3 days ago

What made me excited as well is that they are getting an audience that may not normally see a play, Hearts fans were in, the disabled access is excellent, and there was a young boy with his parents who was enthralled by the stadium and the play. It is a tremendous tribute to those men. This experience is not to be missed, I will never forget it. Forever in our Hearts.

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All Edinburgh Theatre (5/5 stars) 11 days ago

A War of Two Halves, whose devastating emotion and clever staging impressed in 2018, is back again and it is every bit as powerful. This Is My Story, Nonsense Room and Heart of Midlothian Football Club’s depiction of the 1914 Hearts team – one of the greatest in their history...

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Participants - for further details on our audience and published review policies, including how to add or opt out of reviews, please click here.

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Participants - for further details on our audience and published review policies, including how to add or opt out of reviews, please click here.

Dates, Times and Prices