Betty's War

Another old project for the portfolio:

In 2006 I designed two books for a project devised and edited by independent drama consultant Paula Marris, inspired by the 1938 diary of 14-year-old Betty Lavender.

Pupils from Hull were asked to interview members of their local community to find out what happened during the war years. These stories were all combined to make a play that was performed at Hull Truck Theatre on Remembrance Day, 2006. The play itself was commissioned to commemorate the 60th anniversary of VE day and involved over 500 pupils from Hull primary schools. The children also wrote fictional diary entries for Betty and her brother Sam, telling the same story from different points of view. It is this work that went on to form the basis of the books Betty’s War and Sam’s War.