A Boston-based theatre company will work with local school pupils and perform an evocative play inspired by the haunting voices and artistry of those who experienced the First World War at Letchworth Arts Centre next week.

The TC Squared team is crossing the Atlantic with multi-media performance piece Messengers of a Bitter Truth, in partnership with the centre.

The play, which will be performed next Tuesday, incorporates original letters from the trenches which bear witness to the terrible events of the catastrophic conflict and the loss of so much human potential.

Members of the company will also work with students at the Letchworth-based Da Vinci School of Creative Enterprise to develop their own multi-media companion piece. Both works will be performed on Saturday at the Da Vinci Hall, as part of the opening day of the Letchworth Festival.

Arts centre manager Maria Iredale said: “We are so excited to be able to bring this work to Letchworth. The performance includes a talk back with the actors and the production team so this will be the first opportunity for the show to be discussed in one of the countries that played a major role in the war.”

Maria first heard of the acclaimed Boston company when she visited the city on a scholarship to learn more about using the arts for regeneration.

TC Squared has a mission to mentor Boston-based artists and reach diverse audiences, challenging opinions and push artistic boundaries through socially relevant theatre.

The trip is the culmination of an 18 month project which also saw the centre develop a theatre and film production, Through A Child’s Eyes, last year to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War.

Messengers Of A Bitter Truth has toured American and been performed at Harvard and Yale universities.

The interactive performance has a powerful script and projected images of archive film footage, still photographs, and artwork.

The original music underscores the tension between modern technological warfare and the outmoded weapons and strategies of earlier times.

There will be two performances on Tuesday at 1pm and 7.30pm. Tickets are £7 or £5 in advance – visit www.letchwortharts.org to book. There are still free tickets available for secondary schools for additional schools performances, contact the centre for details.