Brewery debut...

Joe Fairclough is a fresh face in the director's chair of the Brewery Theatre Company, a man with years of theatre experience and expertise to share.

The Ulverston-based motivator makes his directorial debut at the Kendal arts centre with Oh What A Lovely War, running from next Thursday to Saturday (September 16-18, 8pm) plus a 2.30pm performance on the final day.

In rehearsals, the company perform better than ever - tighter than I've seen them before - and the choruses are strong and rousing.

For me, Joe has added an extra dimension. And from what I saw the cast is responding to his clear direction: "I hope I don't dictate. I want to give them the freedom to be creative," he explains.

Amiable Joe is keen to point out that it is not his' production but is about good actors, technicians and musicians, and working with them to produce an event that works for the audience. By the looks of it so far he is on to a winner.

The acclaimed musical about the First World War is as poignant, funny and entertaining today as it was in 1963. It is told through the songs and documents of the period as conceived by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop.

It is about people - particularly those on the front line. It celebrates their comradeship and their courage in the face of dreadful hardships. More than anything else the entertainment' is a tribute to the human spirit, which is why it still has the power to be uplifting today.

The top drawer Brewery cast features many well-known and popular players from the region's theatrical circles as well as rising young stars such as Daniel Wilmot, Dan Porter and Katherine Dale, who was awesome in Queen Elizabeth School's Bedbug: The Musical in May.

Barrow-born Joe says he fell into theatre: "Much to the disappointment of my mother," he adds. After being in Furness Youth Theatre Joe was offered the assistant stage manager's job at Barrow's Her Majesty's Theatre, a tiny Edwardian theatre on The Strand. A short stint at university followed before he returned to the stage: "I'd been hooked and had to go back to it," he smiles. But it was the technical side that appealed far more than performing.

Onwards and upwards he worked his way up through theatre production to director level in various regional theatres. However: "In 1980, and in my early thirties, I found I had more financial responsibilities than income coming in, so I retrained as a lawyer."

Joe worked in further education wearing two hats - performing arts and legal education, particularly teaching stagecraft at Lewisham College.

He moved back to the Ulverston area seven years ago, concentrating on teaching law and working for the Citizens Advice Bureau as well as helping to run Furness Tradition, the festival of folk and traditional music.

Talking to Joe, he tells me about his admiration for Joan Littlewood, who changed the face of theatre in the 1950s/60s. She believed in theatre for the people and her most celebrated creation was Oh What a Lovely War.

He says the musical is as relevant today as it was when Ms Littlewood staged the production in 1963: "It's about war and politicians in general and people on the frontline."

Born in 1914, Joan Littlewood was one of the most controversial and influential theatre directors and drama teachers of the 20th Century, a radical and highly creative spirit, who ditched fussy sets, footlights, stage make-up and ham acting.

Her name is synonymous with the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, in London, where she settled her roving Theatre Workshop in 1953.

She even spent time in Kendal with her theatrical pioneers and many regarded her as well ahead of her time.

She died, aged 87, in 2002 but the legend lives on.

I'm sure Joe and the company will do it justice!

Tickets for Oh What A Lovely War are £9.50/concessions £8.50 and are available from the box office on 01539-725133.