Liberal Democrat politician and founding member of the Social Democratic Party, Baroness Shirley Williams will be delivering a short talk prior to the Testament of Youth film screening at the Rhodes Art Complex on 23rd October 2pm, as part of Rhodes’ WW1 season marking the 100 year commemoration of the Great War. Baroness William’s mother was Vera Brittain, the author of the book and her talk will touch on her mother’s experiences of the First World War and inspiration for writing the book.
Much of what we know and feel about the First World War we owe to Vera Brittain’s book, Testament of Youth, which is both a record of what she lived through and a reflection of the irrevocable effect of war on her generation. The film adaptation, starring Alicia Vikander and Kit Harington, released in 2014, sees Vera during World War I, postponing her studies at Oxford University to serve as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse in London and abroad. The film is a story of Vera’s coming of age, young love and the futility of war and how to make sense of the darkest times.
Rhodes Art Complex World War One season will screen Testament of Youth at 2pm and is followed that evening with another classic WW1 Film War Horse at 7.30pm.
Baroness Shirley Williams’s talk will commence at 2pm and will be followed by the screening of Testament of Youth at 2.15pm. Tickets are available here at Rhodes Art Complex. Rhodesartcomplex.co.uk Box Office 01279 710 200.
