Episodes
Wednesday Oct 23, 2013
The Floating World: shipped over the edge l Classic Australian theatre
Wednesday Oct 23, 2013
Wednesday Oct 23, 2013
Les and Irene celebrate their wedding anniversary by setting sail on the Women’s Weekly Cherry Blossom Cruise. But amongst the sun hats and piña coladas Les, a former WWII prisoner of war, finds himself confronted by old diggers, enemies and tormented memories. As the cruise ship floats further from home, Les’ grip on reality floats away too.
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John Romeril was born in Melbourne in 1945 and wrote his first plays while at Monash University, including Chicago, Chicago. He has worked extensively in theatre and film over the years, including dramaturgical work—often with young writers—and as Playwright-in-Residence with several theatre companies and tertiary institutions
Wednesday Oct 23, 2013
Introduction to The Floating World l Reflecting on classic Australian theatre
Wednesday Oct 23, 2013
Wednesday Oct 23, 2013
Thursday Jul 11, 2013
The Shoe-horn Sonata: digging up the past l Award-winning Australian theatre
Thursday Jul 11, 2013
Thursday Jul 11, 2013
In 1945 Sheila and Bridie were freed from a Japanese POW camp deep in the jungles of Sumatra where thousands of women and children had lived and died virtually forgotten by their own governments. Now, after being separated for half a century, the filming of a television documentary forces them to relive the past, contact the present and question the future.
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After working as a solicitor, John Misto changed direction; he decided to become a writer. That career change eventually led to The Shoe-Horn Sonata. It is dense, shocking and poignant - a piece of narrative non-fiction that depicts real life events with a solicitors’ attention to factual detail and a storyteller’s understanding of how emotional truths must be drawn out through narrative construction. The play won the 1995 NSW Premier’s Literary Award, but John was (perhaps) more satisfied that it had rung true for the WWII nurses whose story he was sharing with the world.
Thursday Jul 11, 2013
Scores to be Settled l Reflections on award-winning Australian theatre
Thursday Jul 11, 2013
Thursday Jul 11, 2013
Erin Dewar reads Vera Rado’s introduction to The Shoe-horn Sonata. Rado was one of the many prisoners of war John Misto interviewed when conducting his research for the play. She endured three years in captivity and was moved to tears when she saw John’s play, because her story was finally being recognised.
Thursday Jul 11, 2013
The Unacknowledged l Reflections on award-winning Australian theatre
Thursday Jul 11, 2013
Thursday Jul 11, 2013
Toby Leon reads Jan McCarthy’s foreword to The Shoe-Horn Sonata, which was first performed in 1995 at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney. Jan McCarthy is a former Director of the Nursing Services Army, Member of the Nurses’ National Memorial Committee and Honorary Colonel - and Representative Honorary Colonel - of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps.