A PLAY revealing daily life in Whittingham Asylum in 1918 and the impact of the First World War on its patients and staff was premiered last week.

Four former residents at the mental institution - Nochem Alexandrowitz, John Coupe, Mary Alston and Hepzibah Turner - are characterised in the drama.

Written by Eric Nothey, it features the terrible effects the 1914/1018 conflict had on asylum life in Britain.

It focuses particularly on the impact of those living and working at Whittingham.

The production is based on research using documents stored at Lancashire Archives.

Terence Mann, leader of the University of Central Lancashire’s BA (Hons) Acting course, directed the play and the drama features professional actors as well as seven of his final-year drama students.

The actors visited Lancashire Archives in September to research documents and photographs to help them develop their characters and to get a feel for life in the asylum in 1918.

Last week the production had its opening performances at Whittingham and Goosnargh Sports and Social Club on Wednesday and UClan's St. Peter's Art Centre from Thursday to Saturday

The play - a partnership between Lancashire Archives, UCLan and UNISON - forms part of the wider two-year Whittingham Lives arts and heritage project exploring the institution's history and legacy.

Opened in 1873, the asylum (eventually Britain's largest) was demolished in 2016.

Cllr Peter Buckley, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for culture, said: "The play really gets to grips with the realities of life in the asylum before and during the First World War, especially its impact on those who lived there."