THE horrors of the First World War are well documented. But what about the tedium and anxiety of everyday life in the trenches?

Between the bloodshed, how did time pass for the soldiers hunkered down in the dugouts – all the while knowing that their next engagement with the enemy might be their last?

This, as much as the futility of the war itself, is the subject of RC Sherriff’s enduring drama, first staged ten years after the end of the conflict.

Eighty-two years on, this ensemble character piece still makes for gripping drama, its observations on the human spirit under fire seeming surprisingly modern.

The action – or rather inaction (the play’s original title was Waiting) – takes place in a British officers’ dugout in the days leading up to the big German advance of March 1918. Each soldier deals with the knowledge of impending battle in his own way.

Stolid, unimaginative Trotter (Gareth Davies) obsesses about bacon and marks off the hours on an improvised wall-chart; excitable new arrival Raleigh (Tom Hackney) can’t wait to get stuck in; the wise and kindly Osborne (Graham Seed) reads Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – a madness far preferable to the one hovering between the lines. But it is their alcoholic commanding officer, Stanhope (Christopher Harper), on whom the burden of time and responsibility weighs heaviest.

This co-production by The Original Theatre Company, Icarus Theatre Collective and Anvil Arts is solid and involving, with excellent performances – especially Harper’s brittle turn as the rapidly unravelling Stanhope – complemented by a detailed set and atmospheric sound and lighting.

Runs until Saturday. Journey’s End is at Poole Lighthouse from February 2-6 and King’s Theatre, Portsmouth, March 1-3.