Context & Writer's Techniques (AQA A-Level English Literature A): Revision Notes
Context & Writer's Techniques
Introduction to the play
The Accrington Pals was written by Peter Whelan and premiered in 1981 at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. The play dramatises the true story of the 11th (Service) Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment, commonly known as the Accrington Pals. It follows their journey from enthusiastic recruitment in late 1914 through to their devastating losses on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916.
The premiere at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre was particularly fitting, given the theatre's proximity to Accrington and its connection to the local communities affected by the tragedy. The play's historical authenticity and regional roots made it a powerful piece of documentary theatre.
Historical context in detail
The Pals Battalion phenomenon
The play centres on a unique aspect of World War One recruitment. Lord Kitchener's famous 'Your Country Needs You' posters inspired the creation of volunteer units from local communities. Small towns like Accrington, with a population of approximately 45,000 people, raised entire battalions of over 1,000 men. These were known as 'Pals Battalions' or 'chums' battalions.
Critical Context: Men enlisted together based on camaraderie and were promised quick victory. However, they suffered catastrophic losses—584 casualties in just minutes at Serre village, leaving the town of Accrington devastated. This meant that entire communities lost their young men simultaneously, creating unprecedented grief and social trauma.
Timeline covered in the play
The narrative spans from 1914 to 1916, moving between:
- The enthusiastic market-square recruitment amid jingoistic fervour (1914)
- Life on the home front with rationing and anxiety (1914-1916)
- The trenches and telegrams announcing casualties (1916)
This timeline structure allows Whelan to contrast the initial optimism and patriotic fervour with the grim reality that emerged as the war progressed. The shift from enthusiasm to anxiety mirrors the nation's changing attitude toward the war.
The 1980s writing context
Whelan wrote the play during a significant period in British history. The 1980s were marked by:
- Economic decline and industrial conflict
- Echoes of the Falklands War
- Margaret Thatcher's political dominance
These contemporary issues influenced the play's exploration of several themes:
- Working-class resilience: The strength and solidarity of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances
- Female entrepreneurship: May's market stall symbolises women's self-reliance and independence
- Critique of militarism: Questions about the cost and purpose of war
The play's themes resonated with 1980s audiences who were experiencing their own economic hardships and questioning authority. Whelan's exploration of working-class communities under pressure had immediate relevance to Thatcher-era Britain, where traditional industries were collapsing and communities faced similar devastation to that experienced in WWI.
Sources and influences
Whelan drew inspiration from various historical materials:
- Martin Middlebrook's The First Day on the Somme (1975), a detailed account of the battle
- Local archives documenting the Accrington Pals
- Personal testimonies emphasising women's overlooked but vital roles in sustaining communities during the mass absence of men
Exam tip: Understanding both the historical context of WWI and the 1980s context of the play's creation will help you analyse Whelan's thematic choices and their relevance to different audiences. Consider how the play speaks to both historical tragedy and contemporary concerns.
Writer's techniques in detail
Split-stage design
Whelan employs a distinctive split-stage design that physically divides the performance space into two contrasting worlds:
Foreground (Accrington market):
- Vibrant and lively
- Features market stalls, gossip, and songs
- Represents home and normality
Rear (the trenches):
- Shadowy and ominous
- Contains mud, flares, and rats
- Represents war and death
These spaces use overlapping dialogue and sound cues to create a powerful dramatic effect. For example, the bustle of the market can gradually fade into the terrifying sounds of shellfire. This technique:
- Parallels the disconnected realities of home and war
- Heightens dramatic irony as the audience sees what characters cannot
- Shows how women thrive at home while men perish abroad
Visual Staging Example:
In performance, the split-stage might work like this: May stands at her market stall in the foreground, cheerfully haggling with customers and singing music-hall songs. Behind her, partially obscured in dim lighting, Tom and Ralph crouch in a trench, mud-covered and silent. As May's laughter rings out, the sound of distant artillery rumbles underneath. The audience simultaneously witnesses both the domestic vitality and the battlefield horror—a contrast the characters themselves cannot perceive.
Lancashire dialect
The use of Lancashire dialect serves multiple purposes in the play:
Creates authenticity and realism: The characters speak in their authentic regional voice, grounding the drama in a specific working-class community.
Shows evolution of language: The dialect evolves throughout the play:
- Begins with bawdy, humorous pre-war banter
- Transforms into fragmented, traumatised trench speech
- Is interspersed with music-hall songs and letters for emotional layering
Exam tip: When analysing dialogue, consider how the dialect changes reflect the characters' psychological states and the impact of war. The shift from coherent, jovial speech to broken, traumatised fragments mirrors the soldiers' mental deterioration.
Non-chronological structure
Rather than following a linear timeline, Whelan employs a non-chronological structure that:
- Interweaves scenes from the home front with battlefield moments
- Uses flashbacks to humanise characters (for example, Ralph and May's courtship)
- Foreshadows loss and builds tension
- Creates a more complex emotional experience for the audience
This structure allows the audience to understand characters more deeply before witnessing their fate, making their losses more poignant.
The non-chronological approach prevents the play from becoming a simple historical narrative. Instead, it creates a more impressionistic experience, reflecting how memory works—jumping between past and present, hope and loss. This structure also emphasises that the tragedy was not inevitable but the result of specific decisions and circumstances.
Ensemble focus
Unlike traditional war plays with heroic individual protagonists, The Accrington Pals uses an ensemble focus:
Avoids traditional heroes: No single character dominates; instead, the play portrays archetypes representing the community:
- May: Domineering proto-feminist leader who runs a market stall
- Tom: Visionary character prone to hallucinations and mysticism
- Arthur: Stoic family man
Collective rituals: Characters are developed through group activities such as:
- Communal cooking
- Raid preparations
- Shared songs and stories
This technique emphasises that war affects entire communities, not just individual soldiers, and highlights collective experience over individual heroism.
The ensemble approach reflects the reality of the Pals Battalions themselves—these were not stories of individual heroes but of communities that went to war together. By avoiding a single protagonist, Whelan ensures that no death is more important than another, mirroring the democratic nature of the tragedy that befell Accrington.
Juxtaposition
Whelan creates powerful contrasts through juxtaposition:
- Market vitality vs. gangrenous wounds: The bustling, life-affirming market contrasts sharply with the death and decay of the trenches
- Optimistic letters vs. gas hallucinations: Hopeful correspondence from home juxtaposes with the horrific reality soldiers face
- Past joy vs. present trauma: Flashbacks to happier times contrast with current suffering
These juxtapositions create dramatic tension and emphasise the gulf between civilian expectations and military reality.
Juxtaposition in Action:
Consider a scene where May reads aloud a cheerful letter she's written to Tom, full of domestic gossip and market news. As she speaks in the bright foreground, the rear stage shows Tom in the trenches, unable to read the letter because his hands are shaking from shell-shock. May's words about "keeping his spirits up" become bitterly ironic as we watch Tom's psychological disintegration. The contrast highlights how completely the home front misunderstood the soldiers' experience.
Symbolism
The play is rich with symbolism that deepens its thematic exploration:
- The phallic stall pole: Represents male absence and the changing gender dynamics; the market stall becomes May's domain in the men's absence
- Mustard gas cloud: Symbolises invisible betrayal—the soldiers are killed not by a visible enemy but by an unseen, choking poison
- Reggie's survival: Represents youth's futility and the waste of a generation
- Songs and rituals: Music-hall songs and communal activities symbolise the community bonds that sustain people through hardship
Exam tip: When discussing symbolism, always explain what it represents and link it to the play's broader themes. For instance, the market stall pole isn't just a prop—it represents the economic and social space women occupied during the war, literally and figuratively holding up the home front.
Climactic choral lament
The play concludes with a climactic choral lament that:
- Unites the survivors speaking in raw Accrington dialect
- Blends tragedy with defiant matriarchal rebirth
- Gives voice to communal grief
- Resists complete despair by showing survivors determined to rebuild
This powerful ending avoids sentimentality while acknowledging both loss and resilience.
Key technique: The choral element transforms individual grief into collective mourning, emphasising the community-wide impact of the disaster. Rather than ending with a single character's speech, Whelan gives voice to the entire surviving community, creating a sense of shared experience and mutual support that will be essential for recovery.
Key Points to Remember:
- The Accrington Pals dramatises the real Pals Battalion from Accrington, nearly destroyed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
- Whelan wrote in the 1980s, influenced by Thatcherism, economic decline, and the Falklands War, which shaped the play's exploration of working-class resilience and critique of militarism.
- The split-stage design contrasts vibrant market life with horrific trench warfare, creating dramatic irony and highlighting disconnected realities.
- Whelan's techniques include Lancashire dialect for authenticity, non-chronological structure for emotional depth, ensemble focus over individual heroes, and powerful symbolism throughout.
- The play emphasises women's overlooked roles and ends with a choral lament that blends tragedy with defiant community survival.