The history of wars is usually recorded by the servicemen, now on behalf of the thousand Australian women who took a part in the Vietnam War, the ‘Sheilas’ get their well-earned and overdue chance to tell their stories.

This most memorable, one and a half hour play (no interval) is being presented by Harbour Theatre Inc. and MosArts as part of their 2015 season. The performances are at the Camelot Theatre, 16 Lochee Street, Mosman Park until the 22^nd April. Curtain up at 7.30 pm. there is also a matinee on Sunday 19^th April at 2.00 pm.

Part proceeds will be donated to Legacy to help our need Veterans and their families, in honour of the Gallipoli Centenary and 40^th Anniversary of the Vietnam War.

The open stage is at several levels, all quite low. At the rear of the stage is a scarlet wall with a central arch. There are numerous Vietnamese, golden motifs and symbols painted on the wall. The sidewalls depict bamboo fields. The set was built and painted by Brian Mahoney, Phil Redding, David Champion, Tina Barker and Matt Cuccovia.

Seated at the side of the stage is a 1960s hippy (Toni-Maree Olton – also musical director), with flowers in her hair. She strums at her guitar and sings Bob Dylan songs with a crystal clear voice.

       A spotlight picks out Margaret, a Vet’s wife (Katherine English) who tells us how she met her husband, and then married him only a couple of days before leaving for Nam. Throughout the play, Margaret continues her story, telling us of her loneliness as a war wife, and how her real hell arose when her husband returned home.

      The main story follows four young women through their experiences in Vietnam, from luxury hotels to the cold, mud sodden fields.

      When innocent and timid Eve (Vickie Billingham) meets some friends in a pub, she had the ‘great idea’ of volunteering to help the soldiers, nothing too bloody, just a little bit of help where needed. However, for poor Eve, life in Nam was like something that she had never experienced before. Similarly, Sandy (Nicola Bond) joined a couple of friends who were going over to entertain the troops – after all, actors would get comfortable accommodation and priority treatment, well Bob Hope did. The reality hit them hard.

     Kathy (Grace Hitchin) was a qualified nurse, going to save the injured ’Aussie lads’, but found herself helping nationalities that she never expected. When the local rag’s youngest journalist, Ruth (Kirstie Francis) decided to go and report on the happenings, dare she tell the folk at home the whole story?

This play was developed from a collection of true experiences and memories, gleaned from the 50 women that Siobhán interviewed whilst writing the book. The tales range from funny, to horrendous and tragic.

The actors are performing this play for a second outstanding season. The horror of Eve’s stories, related in a heart tearing fashion by Vickie, was guaranteed to make the tissue packs come out. Grace – as Kathy – gave a strong performance, who as the experienced and hardened nurse still struggled to cope with the misery. Sandy’s (Nicola) romantic tales and lighter anecdotes contrasted well with the other’s dramas. Margaret’s (Katherine) stories – told by a housewife – were almost as chilling. Ruth (Kirstie) had to write about the horrors of war.

The events were confronting but with such a professional cast under the supervision of a well-proven director, Peter Kirkwood, the 90 minutes flew past. Some relief from the gruesome fears came from the dedicated cast’s beautiful singing. It came as a surprise to me how a person who had just acted a traumatic scene could give such a moving and perfectly in tune rendition of some of the songs of the 1960s. A special mention of Katherine and Grace’s powerful and sensitive singing of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell songs.

Rob Tagliaferri and Peter Kirkwood’s lighting, coupled with Vanessa Gudgeon’s quadraphonic sound effects of helicopters overhead, explosions etc. gave a real depth to the play. The audience were not simply watching you were dragged right into the centre of the misery by the powerful acting and magnificent cameos.

None of the cast left the stage, and yet the pace galloped along. The clever script cutting back and forward between scenes and events, helped to stop the whole play from becoming too dark and depressing.

Youngsters should see this play to know what their grandparents went through, and the truth of war.

This was an amazing production, with faultless, quality acting. VERY moving and surely a contender for play of the year. Not easy watching, but a true report of a war that was sneered at by many of the older World War ll soldiers, as being a sham war.

If you appreciate sheer quality, then this immensely moving play is for you.

With the help of MosArts, this will be Harbour Theatre’s second in their new, stylish Art Deco premises in Mosman Park. The theatre is located within the Camelot Theatre complex, 16 Lochee Street, Mosman Park and their 100-minute performances are on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings until 6^th September with curtain up at 7.30 pm. There are two matinees.

A little history. Until the 1970s, any illegitimate child born in Britain was at a great risk of being simply taken from their mothers, or conned out of a possibly loving home, by the ‘well-meaning Authorities’ or even over-proud families. Many of the mothers were told their children were happily adopted, whilst a large number of these 16,000 ‘saved’ children were told they are now orphans, and sent to Australia (read the book ‘The Leaving of Liverpool’) to homes and institutions like Bindoon and Fairbridge, for their own good.

British companies like Walls (who manufactured ice cream and sausages), were upset by this treatment and sent money to make the life of this other ‘stolen’ generation of children a little better. Fairbridge built their Chapel with Wall’s funds.

It is 1964 in the North of England. The opening scene is Mary’s sparsely furnished bedroom and then the set becomes an even less inviting dormitory in the ‘Mother and Baby Home’. To the left of the stage are the Matron’s office and a laundry. Stage Manager was Jo Sterkenburg, assisted by Meredith Hunter.

         The lights dim and a small spot picks out to the right of the auditorium, the young lead singer with her guitar (musical director, Toni-Maree Olton) dressed in a green satin evening dress. To the left of the audience are her three accompanists, ‘The Oltonettes’; Jade Unwin in red, Natasha Smith in blue and Sarah Courtis in purple gowns. As an integral background to the play, they sing the melodies of the sixties in perfect harmony, complete with all of the hackneyed hand movements. They include the Ronette’s title song of the show, ‘Be My Baby’, whose lyrics become so very poignant.

          The somewhat naive, 19-year old Mary Adams (Emily Lloyd) is very pregnant, but unmarried. Faced with the undoubted shame and cruel jibes by the neighbours, her prudish mother, Mrs Adams (Grace Hitchin) insists that the baby is born away from home and adopted out immediately – ‘after all, it is for the best’.

          Soon, Mary finds herself in a home run by the church for pregnant, unmarried mothers. They charge the clients for their accommodation, and then the prospective parents pay enormous fees for the adoption agreements.

         Mary is sharing a room with the rough, streetwise Queenie (Sarah Christiner). One day, they are working in the laundry, washing and folding the sheets with two other girls Norma (Nicole Miller), and Dolores (Sophie Cushing) neither of whom are 100% sure how they became pregnant. With a medical dictionary they found lying around, and Queenie’s knowledge, they can probably work things out.

         When Mary’s baby is born, the realisation that she has to give up the child for adoption, starts to dawn. The imperious Matron (Nicola Bond) refuses to be swayed by the girls’ requests, but (with clever acting); there is a subtle hint that the Matron may be carrying out instructions that are against her own personal, compassionate feelings.

Director, Peter Kirkwood’s cast of ‘pregnant girls’ are too young to remember the times that they are enacting; however, they still truly captured the ordeal of the situation and skilfully conveyed this to the audience. There were many of the older members of the audience very moved by the play. Many of us had friends who, with their mothers, ‘worked away’ for a couple of months and on their return, the mother (!) was found to have had a baby. This child was then brought up as the daughter’s sister and not her child.

The melodic rendition of the old songs brought light relief to those parts when the play got a little gloomy, as the girls’ dreams collapsed. The lyrics then took on a new meaning in the circumstances.

Rob Tagliaferri has handled all of the teching, lighting and sound faultlessly. The props of the era were well sourced e.g. the 45s case, an auto-change record player and even the army blankets with the red stripes, fond memories for many of us. The costumes ranged from the striking, shimmering gowns and elbow-length, white gloves, to the scratchy grey material that made up the smocks for the pregnant girls. It is these little finer points that give that extra depth to a production.

A tricky play to put on, as it demanded several genres such as music, humour and pathos, combined with the tragedy and innocence of the girls concerned in the adoption. Very well acted and the full houses give credence to the successful production.