AS part of his research for Private Peaceful, which runs at the Lace Market Theatre this week, the play's director Paul Johnson travelled to Belgium to see the surviving First World War trenches.

"I visited Ypres and the In Flanders Field museum," says Paul.

"It was meant to be the war to end all wars, but one stark image that stayed with me was at the end of the museum – an ever-growing list of the major world conflicts since 1918. The Great War didn't create a lasting peace."

He adds: "The scale of unnecessary loss of life of ordinary, recruited men during the First World War is almost unimaginable."

The play is based on Michael Morpurgo's 2003 novel, which transferred to the big screen in 2012, starring George Mackay, Richard Griffiths, Maxine Peake and Derby actor Jack O'Connell, who trained at Nottingham's Television Workshop.

Its first performance as a play was at the Old Vic in London in 2004, before going on to the West End.

It follows Private 'Tommo' Peaceful over the course of one night. He recalls his life, from a happy rural upbringing, through school, to the outbreak of war and the trenches of Flanders. "Commemorating the outbreak of the Great War, this play portrays the undying bond between brothers and the brutality of the First World War," he says.

"It tells, through the words and thoughts of one soldier, how the Great War affected families in a way that takes us beyond the history books. It also tells a lesser known story of the injustice to which some soldiers were subjected.

"The book has been adapted into two separate plays – a one-man show and the one we are performing, an ensemble piece with many parts played by a few actors. Our version is the more faithful to the book by maintaining one particular heartbreaking twist at the end – which I won't spoil here."

Paul adds: "I hope the play will remind audiences of the futility of what happened 100 years ago and the sacrifice many people made in the name of King, country and a better future."