Some sang wartime songs, while others handed out cards bearing the names of the soldiers killed on the first day of the battle and the hashtag #wearehere.
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About 300,000 British, French and German soldiers lost their lives in the battle, which began on July 1, 1916, and lasted months.
The actors were deployed as part of a 12-hour UK-wide “pop-up” event – We’re Here Because We’re Here – which saw 1500 “squaddies” appear in period uniform on streets, train stations, shopping centres and ferries all across Britain from Shetland to Cornwall.
Ms Taki then went on to say: “I think it’s a good idea to remind all the youngsters what we went through during the war. They died and nobody knows where they are and this is just a memory of them, really”. Some of the younger volunteers said they were not aware of The Somme before the project.
Ronnie Pye tweeted: “Remember them”.
John Dunne, 39, added: “We are giving these men a presence outwith the history books and cemeteries”.
He said: “He was attached to a Scottish unit as an observation officer and he blew this whistle on July 1 at 7.30am 100 years ago to take his men over the top into action”.
Working under the veil of secrecy, they recruited participants with the help of 27 organisations including the Lyric Theatre Belfast, Manchester Royal Exchange and National Theatre of Scotland.
More than 700 people gathered at a service at Howard Davis Park on Friday, where the stone was revealed as part of the commemorations to remember the 863 Jersey soldiers who died during World War One.
Veterans, members of the public and politicians from the North-east attended a commemoration service for the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.
About 20,000 British troops were killed on the first day of the bloody battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916, while tens of thousands more were maimed or wounded.
On the night before the attack, the BBC recounts, Second Lieutenant Percy Boswell wrote about the day to come: “I am absolutely certain that I shall get through alright but in case the unexpected does happen, I shall rest content with the knowledge that I have done my duty and one can’t do more”. It lasted until November 18, 1916 and left more than a million soldiers injured or dead.
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“Working alongside brilliant artists, directors and theatres on this astonishing project will be an experience they will never forget”.
