A THEATRE producer from Wells will bring the critically acclaimed play Soldier On to her home city as part of the Wells Theatre Festival in July, straight from two sell-out seasons in London's West End and a national tour.

Soldier On is inspired by the true stories about British servicemen and women and their families that the play's creator Jonathan Guy Lewis gathered over a period of five years.

The cast is made up of army veterans performing alongside professional actors, bringing their own experiences of recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Through a mix of storytelling, music and dance, the play explores what really happens when military personnel leave the army.

Soldier On is produced by Amanda Faber and the Soldiers' Arts Academy, an organisation she founded that provides a platform for serving and veteran military personnel to recover, retrain and to access new work.

Amanda, who is a former pupil at Wells Blue School, said: "I am proud and excited to be able to bring Soldier On to my home city so that local audiences can experience this wonderful play. The Wells Theatre Festival is all about bringing high quality theatre to the local community and I am thrilled to be playing a part in making that possible.

"Soldier On lays bare both the shocking and sometimes heart-warming truths about the impact of PTSD – and the very real and often disturbing facts of life faced by some 60,000 military veterans in Britain in 2019."

Award-winning playwright Jonathan Lewis returns to Wells Theatre Festival after the success of his award-winning I Found My Horn in Cedars Hall last year.

He was invalided out of the army himself and went on to make a career in the theatre, firstly as an actor starring in the TV hits Soldier Soldier, London's Burning and Coronation Street, before becoming a playwright.

He said: "Soldier On is dedicated to all those who come home after war, but don't really come back.

"And to all their loved ones and friends who know what it's like to live with the thousand-yard stare."

Soldier On is being performed at The Bishop's Barn on July 11, 12 and 13. More festival information and tickets to all the events at Wells Theatre Festival are available at www.wellstheatrefestival.org

Tickets are also being sold this year at Roly's Fudge Pantry in Wells Market Place.