A sweeping tale which takes place over three continents and across many lives, we focus on four characters as we travel with the first AIF convoyfromAlbany on their way to the battlefields of Europe and the Middle East, a hospital in England and then back home years later.
Fay Howe was a young girl living on Breaksea Island who communicated via semaphore to soldiers on the ships waiting to depart Albany, sending messages home and waving them off to war. Fay’s story embodies the strength, resilience, resourcefulness and courage of the women left behind by a generation of men, many of whom would never return, and for whom Breaksea was the last piece of Australia they would ever see.
English nurse Rose O’Reilly epitomises the strength, care and commitment of the many young women who served to nurse the broken men returning from the front. At Harefield Hospital, countless Australian servicemen were patched and bandaged, stitched back together, and read to. In amongst the trauma, devastating injury, shellshock, and the raging pandemic of the Spanish Flu, love blossomed, as it always will.
Major General Bridges’ horse Sandy represents the 136,000 Walers that left Australia to fight in a man’s war, exhibiting the same bravery, selfless action, and strong resilience shown by their owners. Sandy was the only warhorse to return to Australia, the rest having been killed in action, destroyed or sold, and left behind in Europe.
Outlining the youthful and blind enthusiasm of young men enlisting to fight; the cautious and prescient warnings of older men who have lived through turmoil and heartache; the innocent and strident conviction of young women wanting to do their bit and the steadfast love and loyalty of our equine friends, this play speaks to every generation and across the ages.
This production will have an enormous impact on audiences all around WA and beyond, enabling many remote communities to experience world-class theatre in their own towns.This award-winning genre of live actors on a theatre stage performing in front of a palette of archival and moving images, animation, soundscapes, and musical composition results in an immersive theatre experience like no other; a unique and ground-breaking format, designed with agility to tour.
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