Based on hundreds of letters from the real ‘Land Girls’ of the 1940s, Lilies on the Land follows Vera, Poppy, Margie and Peggy as they adapt to their new lives, working on a farm miles from home. A moving portrait of some of Britain’s unsung heroes, containing songs from the period.
Telling the story of four women’s experiences in the Land Army during the Second World War, Lilies on the Land swaps traditional narrative for an oral memoir, drawn largely from the real-life testimony of those who served in the so-called ‘forgotten army’.
The all-female cast was small – just the four – while behind the scenes, director Liz Clarke had made the shrewd decision to keep staging to a minimum, a choice that represented a significant act of faith in the quartet of actors on whom the entire play rests.
Was her faith repaid? Indeed it was – in spades. Playing the four land girls, Tracey Holderness, Caitlin Mottram, Ruth Fowler and Sophie Marlowe were truly outstanding. Each delivered a bravura performance that saw them inhabit their named character and slip seamlessly into others to tell tales that were often funny, often sad and frequently hair-raising. Whether it was a comic anecdote involving the digging of a toilet, sobering stories of misogyny, or a genuinely moving rendition of Silent Night, they were all individually brilliant – and when coming together for musical moments, even better than the sum of their estimable parts.
In short, Lilies on the Land was a heartfelt, powerful and, above all, immaculately performed night out.
— Edited from Gordon Birch’s review in the Harborough Mail
Vera – Tracey Holderness
Poppy – Caitlin Mottram
Margie – Ruth Fowler
Peggy – Sophie Marlowe
Photography by John Harrison
Directed by Liz Clarke
An amateur production by arrangement with Nick Hern Books