Information for Birdsong at Malvern Theatres, Malvern (Play). A mesmerising story of love, courage and sacrifice is now brought to the stage in this critically acclaimed version of Sebastian Faulks's bestselling novel. An epic tale of love and war set both before and during the Great War. In pre war France, a young Englishman Stephen Wraysford embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire that turns their world upside down. As the war breaks out over the idyll of his former life, Stephen must lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and through the sprawling tunnels that lie deep under ground. Faced with the unprecedented horror of the war Stephen clings to the memory of Isabelle as his world explodes around him.