- It has been a long time since I have been so moved by a production as when I recently saw the joint Sydney Theatre Company and Australian Defence Forces (ADF) production, THE LONG WAY HOME.
- The theatre is a great place for important stories to be told, and it is it all the more powerful when the authors, the very people who lived out these stories, are the performers.
- On the stage of one of Sydney’s premiere venues, the Sydney theatre in Walsh Bay, soldiers from the ADF shared some of their stories of their experiences in overseas operations such as in Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor and as well as with humanitarian and disaster relief operations.Some of the situations they faced were re-enacted. They also shared stories of their experiences after returning home, attempting to adapt to normal life again..carrying physical and emotional scars, struggling in their relationships.
- The soldiers are aided by having some very fine professional actors, including Emma Jackson, Odile Le Clezio and Tahki Saul, on stage with them, helping to get their stories across.
- Many of the stories stayed with one long after the house lights came back on- the soldier who when he was on guard duty was so petrified that he couldn’t stop muttering to himself and kept his colleagues awake when they were trying to get some rest…another soldier who was about to go up to a shy young boy and give him some candy and then saw him gunned down by an enemy sniper…Another soldier recounting how one day a local goat farmer is your best friend…the next day he is trying to shoot and kill you…
- Scenes like this rekindled memories of Francis Ford Coppola’s great anti war film APOCALYPSE NOW… Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz exclaiming, ‘The horror of it all..The horror’…
- In his program note, General David Hurley, who cam e up with the original idea for this production after having been so impressed when he saw a play in London about British soldiers recent military experiences, wrote that the production was being used as part of the soldiers rehabilitation,/therapy, being able to talk about and share their feelings and pain.
- In the famous Twelve Step programs, followed around the world, where people fight wars on other fronts such as with alcohol and drugs, once a person has a shared a story from their particular journey/struggle, the group respond, as if one, by saying, ‘thank you for sharing’.
- To the brave soldiers who are sharing their stories with audiences around Australia – Thank you for Sharing. What an honour and a privilege to hear their stories. May it help greatly in their long long road back.