By JESSE GRAHAM
A THEATRE production exploring the lives of Emerald Diggers in World War I will open this weekend for a series of performances, leading to the centenary of the Gallipoli landings.
“While their Names are still Spoken” will open on Friday 17 April at 8am at the Gem Community Arts Centre in Emerald, running through the weekend and finishing on Anzac Day, 25 April.
The performance centres on the lives of soldiers from Emerald who died during World War I – Jim (Lachlan Castricum), who was killed on Anzac Day in Gallipoli, and his best friend, Artie (Greg Hedges), who died just before the war’s end.
The pair meet up in the afterlife, and look back on times and places on the battlefield and back at home, to find answers to the question weighing on Artie’s mind – did they die for nothing?
Director, Evie Housham, said the show was set both in wartime Turkey and back at home in Emerald, focusing on not only the lives of the Diggers, but on the lives of those they left behind.
“It talks about the reaction of the families at home,” she said.
“First of all, their thoughts about the war effort and, as the dead get put into the paper, they discover they’ve got people in their village that have died, and the effect it has on them.”
The name is a reference to an idiom that says that people only truly die when their names are spoken for the last time, and, with that, the solemn words uttered every 25 April – Lest We Forget.
Characters in the performance are based on actual soldiers from Emerald who fought in the war, and who are now immortalised in the recently-opened Anzac Walk and Anzac Place.
Ms Housham said she and the writer, Ken Purdham, had been in frequent contact with the Emerald RSL to perfect historical elements of the production.
Emerald RSL president, Peter Maloney, said the performance was an extension of the Anzac centenary events in the town, with performances running over the weekend before the big day and finishing with a last show at 8pm on Saturday 25 April.
“It’s been a very strong interaction between the two clubs – the Gemco Players and the RSL,” Mr Maloney said.
Ms Housham and Mr Maloney said that, with the performance exploring the ideas of war and death, bravery and the effect on local communities, it would be a tear-jerker.
“I’ve been told you have to take a box of tissues,” Mr Maloney said.
“I usually direct comedies, so this is a huge departure, and a hugely serious piece,” Ms Housham said.
“I’m mindful of making sure that we’re keeping the gravity about it, without it becoming too stodgy.
“The essence of it is that it’s going to be a sad tale, because that’s just the way it is.”
“While their Names are Still Spoken” will be performed on Friday 17 and 24 April from 8pm, Saturday 18 and 25 April from 8pm and Sunday 19 April from 1pm at the Gem Community Arts Centre, 19 Kilvington Drive, Emerald.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for concession holders, $18 for students and $20 per ticket for groups of four or more.
Attendees are warned that explicit language, flashes, smoke and noise will all feature in the performance.
For more information, call Gemco Players Community Theatre on 5968 2844 or visit www.gemcoplayers.org.
