Orange is set to host an intimate look at the first world war when A Town Named War Boy arrives on Wednesday, March 21. 

Based on the State Library of NSW’s jaw-dropping collection of First World War diaries, photographs and letters, A Town Named War Boy brings to life the personal accounts of the young men that set sail for the far side of the world.

Exploring the world of North Africa and the Gallipoli peninsula through the eyes of young soldiers, the script brings these young men to life. 

While some of these diaries and letters are finished, others just stop.

The play focuses on a returned soldier called Snow, played by Josh McElroy, and switches between the cold, harsh office of a therapist to the warmer lighting of his pre-war life, interspersed with scenes from the front. 

The backdrop and music also combines marvellously to set the tone of the war. 

These factors all draw you into the show, to the characters and the horrors they faced in the trenches comes to the fore. 

While it is confronting at times, it balances the gravity of trauma and horror with the humour Anzacs were renowned for to help encapsulate the Anzac legend. 

The dialogue was written after intensive research of letters and diaries of Anzacs, which conveys the way life really was on the front, painting it all in a clear light. 

It explores post-traumatic stress disorder, and the agony and stress felt by those who returned from the war.  

Award winning playwright Ross Mueller shows his extraordinary talent in this funny and moving play. 

The show was developed and presented in partnership with the State Library of NSW and is now on a national tour around the country. 

After launching the national tour in show then tours Bathurst on March 23.

Tickets are $46 at the Orange Civic Theatre and $42 at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre, book tickets via Ticketek.