Our aim is to start touring ‘The Terminus’ in 2025

01

All the action of the play takes place during January on the freezing concourse of a railway terminus. The central character is an old vagrant known as Boney who sleeps rough beside the platforms. We discover Boney is a war veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder made worse by the onset of Alzheimer’s. He stays alive solely to find his wife and sweetheart, Meriel, who died when he was a young man.

02

Boney feels alien to the prosperous melee on the concourse; it intimidates and destabilises him. Reminders of his past provoke him into riding a tumult of emotions, reliving what he sees as the failures that have shaped his life.

03

A remarkable woman, Lady Georgina Buller, looks beyond Boney’s rudeness, rage and dishevelment to help us catch glimpses of a formidable, well-educated man with a gentle, poetic soul and an unquenchable spirit.

04

Her understanding helps bring a semblance of calm and closure to his traumatic life. The play also connects with sharpest relevance to recent conflicts throughout the world.

05

It avoids jingoistic boasting and explores how individuals pay the price for military action and epic, historical events. Boney’s armed forces eulogy starts by honouring those he has seen fall in battle, and then broadens under a shower of poppies to include servicemen and women across the centuries to the present-day.

06

This is a story which encompasses some of the grim realities of mental trauma and homelessness but which ultimately uplifts. It also manages to be hugely enjoyable, not least because it taps into Boney’s dark humour and disarming honesty.
Live music helps wrack up the stress and torment Boney feels, as well as express contrasting moments of tenderness and calm. Despite all that happens, the play is never far from the simple account of a confused, old man trying to make sense of what becomes the last day of his life.

“… very vivid and moving … I am excited by having some type of design involvement in its production.”

Paul Day
International Sculptor

“… a moving, highly original treatment of prescient themes with well-drawn characters: beautifully written.”

Sally Woodcock
Founder and Artistic Director MESH theatre co.

“… a first-class piece of writing by an author with a natural feel for the stage.”

Mark Glanville
Award-Winning Author and Journalist

“…an exceptional play … a wonderful piece of writing … the only play yet to attract us beyond our Shakespeare remit.”

Jaclyn McLoughlin
Founder of UK & US Combat Veteran Players

‘The Terminus’ – one play, seven outcomes

Whatever form a performance of ‘The Terminus’ takes: whether workshops based on scenes from the play, radio-style performances, or a full-scale production, there are seven beneficial outcomes.

1)  The play follows a homeless war veteran with Alzheimer’s and mental trauma, who sleeps rough near the platforms of a main railway station. He experiences anything from empathetic kindness to abuse, which raises important issues for the audience to consider. 

2)  The play provides employment for ex-servicemen and women, sometimes for  their families, and for those still serving but on notice.

3)  The strength of performances and deft handling of emotions makes the actors compelling advocates for the employment of recovered and retrained veterans in any field, especially if they’ve had the courage and capability to recover from mental trauma and/or homelessness.

4)  Involvement in theatre, especially acting, helps sufferers recover from mental trauma and maintain good mental health.

5) The performers’ journeys from mental trauma and/or homelessness to professional theatre are inspirational and in demand. Our Ambassadors are skilled in media interviews and combatting the ignorance, fear, stigma and prejudice which blight the progress of mental health recovery.

6)  HOfB will work with theatres or colleges to develop an audience, some of whom will participate in workshops. The theatres may choose a workshop on Veterans, Drama or History.

7)  Belonging to a community is an important part of on-going recovery and sustaining improvements. Being part of a production fast tracks relationships, which lay solid foundations when building a community.

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