About the Play:

Days of Significance is a full-length drama by Roy Williams. On the eve of their departure for active service, two young soldiers are on a drunken night out with their friends. A relevant play for today's political climate, Days of Significance offers an in-yer-face critique of a society that expects its own underclass to fight its wars yet fails them from the minute they are born.

Days of Significance is inspired by Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, which begins with soldiers returning from a war. In an English market town, Ben and Jamie join their friends to binge-drink the night away. It's the usual bender where the boys insult each other and flirt with the girls who insult them back. But tonight is different: the next day, the two young soldiers are off for active service in Iraq. Out of their depth in the desert of Iraq and fighting in a war that they don't understand, the young men are managing their moral compass, loyally following orders and trying to keep in touch with their complex love lives. All with bravado that belies the truth of their fear and vulnerability. But what is the impact on these alienated and susceptible soldiers? And what consequences will their ill-equipped moral codes have on the West and the people they come home to? Explosive and thought provoking, Roy Williams examines the aftermath of a war whose conflicts rage far beyond the battleground.

Days of Significance premiered in 2007 at the Shaw Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, in a production commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). The show enjoyed a critically acclaimed transfer to the Tricycle Theatre in London in 2008. It was revived for a national tour by the RSC in 2009.

Cast: 5 female, 10 male

What people say:

"…roars with energy and passion." — The Times

"Roy Williams – the most prolific and on-the-money dramatist around at the moment – has taken, at the behest of the RSC, his inspiration from Much Ado About Nothing ... The dialogue crackles with vigour and wit." — The Independent

"Days of Significance is a frankly terrifying and utterly compelling examination of the morality of sending young men to fight a war when they are ill-equipped to do so in every way." — The Guardian

About the Playwright:

Roy Samuel Williams is an English playwright. He worked as an actor before turning to writing full-time in 1990 and is now arguably one of the UK's leading dramatists. In 2000 he was the joint-winner of The George Devine Award and in 2001 he was awarded the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright. He was awarded the OBE for Services to Drama in the 2008 Birthday Honours List.