Birmingham Hippodrome Hosts Family WWI Sleepover at Patrick Centre This Weekend

Birmingham Hippodrome hosts a family sleepover in the theatre's Patrick Centre inspired by the stories of National Theatre's War Horse and the commemoration of WW1.

It's time to rally the troops as Birmingham Hippodrome brings to life a very special family sleepover adventure in the theatre's Patrick Centre from 7pm, tonight 25 October (last post at midnight) until 8am Saturday 26 October (reveille at 7am).

Families are invited to spend a night taking part in activities inspired by WW1 commemorations alongside the award-winning, internationally acclaimed National Theatre production of War Horse.

Creative Learning & Audience Development Manager, Liz Leck said; "We will be transporting families back 100 years to a time free of technology in a transformed Patrick Centre; families will find themselves in a 'far-off field' in France and make camp in 'trenches' overnight."

The evening is set to feature a series of activities reminiscent of 1914 England including; crafts, games, singing, storytelling and creating individual Trench Art. Included in the visit, teams will also make a reconnaissance backstage on an exclusive night-time tour to gain exclusive insight into the award-winning production of War Horse.

Liz Leck continued; "In true theatre style, at the end of the night there will be a family performance created on the evening from scratch - we are inviting families to dust off their musical instruments and bring them along! For those less theatrical, the theatre will be recruiting for budding war correspondents and cartoonists to create and publish the first ever copy of the Hippodrome Herald."

Representatives from the National Army Museum will also be on hand to share genuine and replica artefacts from their handling collection.

The theatre's very first WWI Sleepover is part of a nationwide Family Arts Festival offering activities and events for the whole family across the city. For more information on the Family Arts Festival visit www.familyarts.co.uk.

Tickets for the Family Sleepover are priced at £20 child, £30 adult and can be booked by calling 0844 338 5000 - calls cost from 5p per min, 5% fee and £1 postage applies. There must be a minimum of 1 adult to every 3 children.

War Horse runs at Birmingham Hippodrome Wednesday 16 October - Saturday 9 November 2013. Tickets are very limited and can be purchased by calling 0844 338 5000 or by visiting www.birminghamhippodrome.com (5% fee and £1 postage applies, calls cost from 5p per min).

Photo Credit: Neil Pugh