OUTDOOR theatre, a museum exhibition and a book signing marked a day-long event commemorating life in Middlesbrough during the Great War.

On Saturday night in the town's Albert Park the Periplum outdoor arts company staged its specially-commissioned performance of Homecoming, which explored stories of how local people's lives were affected by the War.

Stories of soldiers, nurses and munitions workers were featured on both the home front and foreign battlefields in the theatre production.

The show was commissioned by the five Tees Valley Councils and the Arts Council and has been created from research from local libraries, archivists and interviews with local people.

Earlier in the day author Paul Menzies was at Dorman Museum, near Albert Park, signing copies of his new book Middlesbrough: Remembering 1914-19, which is part of the History Press's major new series, Great War Britain.

Lord James Crathorne, who wrote the foreword, was also there to help launch the book, which is based on material found in the collections of national institutions as well as the Dorman Museum, Teesside Archives and Middlesbrough Libraries.

The book describes local reaction to the outbreak of war, the changing face of industry and related unrest, the effect on local children, and the experience of individuals who enlisted.

A major new exhibition at the Dorman Museum also started on Saturday. Middlesbrough in the Great War 1914-18 looks mainly at the role played by people on the Home Front, but also on the front line.

It includes sections on recruitment, defence, medical care, the role of women, war work and the munitionettes, as well as the war in the air, at sea and on the Western Front, and runs until the end of March 2015.

Middlesbrough Council’s Senior Museums Curator Phil Philo said: “We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to this project and shared memories, photographs and objects about their families and their roles during the Great War.

“We hope that this fascinating material will encourage others to come forward with further material so that it can be added to this important story of Middlesbrough’s people.”