Proceeds from WW1 Play Given to Combat Stress Charity

Remembrance day reading of Cosmo's War was staged at St Michael & All Angels

Robert Marsh receiving the cheque from Bernard Adams, and Father Kevin Morris with therapy dog Bosco. Picture: Roger Green

May 21, 2023

The funds raised from a play about the First World War staged in Chiswick last Remembrance Day have been donated to the veterans’ charity Combat Stress.

The timing of the presentation of the £2,000 cheque by St Michael & All Angels Church was chosen to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week.

The money was raised at the Remembrance Day reading of Cosmo’s War, a play based on the letters to and from the artist Cosmo Clark and his family during the conflict.

The production, in a packed St Michael’s church, was enhanced by music, costumes and images, including many of Cosmo’s sketches and letters. The part of Cosmo was read by Jamie White, a history student from Chiswick, and other parts were read by professional actors. The narrator was the vicar of St Michael & All Angels, Fr Kevin Morris.

Robert Marsh, Director of Fundraising at Combat Stress said, “Thank you to St Michael & All Angels Church for their donation. Combat Stress is 77% reliant on public donations to deliver its life-changing treatment for UK veterans. From eye-watering endurance challenges to marathons, we appreciate the tenacity and determination of our many fundraising challengers and the generosity of our supporters.

“The reading of Cosmo’s War was even more poignant, as Combat Stress was set up in 1919 to support those soldiers from the WWI who returned with psychological and physical injuries.”

After the performance on 11 November 2022, Mark Izatt, a trustee of Combat Stress, wrote on Twitter, “It was a superb performance. I had read the letters before but this gave them a whole new meaning”.

No fewer than six of James Clark’s great granddaughters attended the performance and Cosmo’s granddaughters and great-granddaughters were photographed with the cast.

Cosmo’s War was written by Bernard Adams, a former BBC producer, based on Cosmo Clark’s letters, to and from his family at 44 Rusthall Avenue W4. Copies of the play are now on sale via Amazon here.

Cosmo volunteered for active service at the age of 17 and won the Military Cross. He documented his experiences in drawings and letters from the front and later became a well-known artist. His father James Clark painted The Great Sacrifice, described as “the most popular painting of WW1”, and The Salutation mural in the north aisle of St Michael & All Angels Church.

The evening was supported by Andrew Nunn & Associates, Belinda Norcliffe Casting and Home Instead, Chiswick and Hammersmith. The uniforms were supplied by Khaki Devil of Bury St Edmunds, the other costumes by Janet & John Huckle, and props by Stuart Learmonth, Cosprop, Trading Post, Abbey Fabrics and Superhire Props.