BREAKER MORANT
An upcoming production of Breaker Morant should not fail for lack of realism. Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant, the charismatic and flawed Australian legend, will be played by Andrew George, who has more than a decade of experience serving with the Australian army.
“Any actor will tell you that research helps you get into character, and I’ve done a good twelve years research,” George said.
George is a graduate of the Actors Conservatory in Brisbane, as well as the Royal Military College in Duntroon. But he will be joined on stage by other military officers who have no acting experience or training.
The director, Gareth Boylan, made the choice to cast army officers to provide the play with authenticity. According to Boylan, the skills these men developed on the parade ground and in combat – such as vocal delivery and physical awareness – will ensure a smooth transition to the stage.
Mark Lee, though not an army veteran, will also add to the verisimilitude of Breaker Morant. Lee played the lead role of Archy Hamilton in the celebrated film Gallipoli.
The story of Breaker Morant will be familiar to many from another classic Australian war feature, Bruce Beresford’s film from 1979. The same play that was the basis for the film will be performed at the Seymour Centre.
Kenneth Ross’s play is a courtroom drama set during the Boer War. The defendants are three Australian officers who are being tried for the murder of eight Boer prisoners and a missionary. The English-born Morant and his fellow officers never denied shooting the Boers; their defence was that they were simply following the orders from Lord Kitchener, the commander of British forces in South Africa.
In recent years there has been a return to the headlines for ‘the Breaker’ (Morant was famous for both breaking in horses and writing verses for The Bulletin). Military lawyer Jim Unkles has campaigned to have the three officers acquitted. Regardless of whether or not Lord Kitchener issued orders to kill Boer prisoners, Unkles believes the men were not given a fair trial. A lawyer for the defence was only appointed the day before the trial began and important witness were unavailable, as they had been re-deployed to other British colonies. Also, the newly federated Australian government was not informed about the trial until after two of the officers, including Morant, were executed.
Breaker Morant opens on April 12 and will run for two weeks in the lead up to ANZAC Day.
Apr 12-21, Reginald Theatre Seymour Centre, Cnr Cleveland Street and City Road, Chippendale, $20-30, 9351 7940, www.seymourcentre.com
