Red Cross Letters (2016)
A verbatim theatre piece for four actors and a musician, produced by State Theatre of South Australia, directed by Andy Packer, at The Space, AFGT plus regional tour.
Awards: The Red Cross Letters was nominated for the Rodney Seaborn Prize, 2013 (for first draft script)
Published: The Australian Script Centre.
The Red Cross Letters is a verbatim theatre piece. The source material is correspondence (11 out of 8,000 packets held at the State Library of South Australia) between the Australian Red Cross Information Bureau and relatives of wounded or killed soldiers, reporting on young men killed, wounded or missing in action during World War 1. The piece melds the stories of eleven young soldiers, and those who loved them
REVIEWS
“…my goodness, what power there is in the sparse words… The bold simplicity of text, set and direction combine to deliver a quietly profound piece of theatre…”
“There’s something quite magical about listening to these voices speaking to us across the generations; it evokes a deep compassion for those who were left to carry such an enormous weight of sorrow.”
Alison Flett, Indaily, 2016
‘The wonderful characterisations bring these letters to life and add depth to the stories, investing them with a powerful emotionality the hits home to the audience. These are moving and so often tragic tales of lost, wasted lives.’
‘When the lights came up at the end, nobody seemed quite ready to move or speak and, when they did eventually rise to go, this was the quietest and most sombre audience that I have ever seen leaving a theatre. Speaking was in whispers and movement was unhurried. Clearly, the production had profoundly moved the audience.’
Barry Lenny, BWW Review 2016