presents
by Gerry O’Connor
25 – 28 APRIL SCHOOL OF ARTS
Not long before she died in 1999 aged 88, my mother gave me a bundle of letters she and my father had written to each other during World War II. During the war, my father served in the Australian Army in the islands north of Australia, and my mother took over running his weekly newspaper and job printing business in a small Queensland country town. My mother had destroyed many of the letters, doubtless for personal reasons, but several hundred remained. Both were colourful and incisive writers, and their letters give a vivid insight into the concerns of two people going through the experience of a world at war seventy years ago. My son, the actor, Brendan O’Connor, suggested the letters would make an interesting stage production. That is what I set out to write. I must stress that Last Post is not a biography of my parents. Their letters have been used as a point of departure. They provided the skeleton of a story and helped recreate the attitudes and social atmosphere of the times. But, parts of the play come from my own childhood memories of many people and events in wartime and from my imagination. I am grateful to the first cast of Last Post in 2000, Brendan O’Connor and Perri Cummings, and the actor/director of the 2013 Townsville season, Terri Brabon, for their very practical help in developing the script. My wife Ann gave me her ideas, her encouragement, her confidence, her support and her patience, without which there would be no script to develop. All the people mentioned in this play outside my immediate family and historical figures are fictitious, and any resemblance to other actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. A war affects everyone it touches, whether they are combatants, civilians in the battle zone, or families waiting at home. Last Post is dedicated to my parents, Gerald and Dot O’Connor, and to all the combatants and civilians from both sides whose lives were affected by the terrible years of World War II. Gerry O’Connor
Soldier .................... Brendan O’Connor Wife .................................. Terri Brabon Singer ............................. Emily Edwards Singer ......................... Michael Gleeson Special Appearance by Claire Dickson
Director .......................................... Terri Brabon Lighting & Set Design ........... Brendan O’Connor Sound Design ................................. Terri Brabon Costumes ..................................... Kathy Brabon Props ............................................ Susan Brabon Sound Operator .................... Anne-Marie Smith Lighting Operator ........................ Thomas Roach Production Asst ............................... Kellie Esling ...............................................Emma Lamberton ................................................... Joanne Renton Technical Team ..................... Arminelle Fleming ................................... Amba-Crystal Pummeroy ........................................................Chris Nobile .................................................... Wayne Tomas Vocal Coach...................................Ebony Buckle Hair ........................................... Kerry Santariga Photography ............................ Chrissy Maguire
___________ BRENDAN O’CONNOR – Soldier
_________________ TERRI BRABON – Wife
MICHAEL GLEESON - Singer _____________
The School of Arts, Townsville, 1922 Image: CityLibraries Townsville W.J. Laurie Collection
xxx Terri
Alf Dixon Michelle Jones James Thomasson Carla Lejarraga Anna Wallace Keely Williams
Robbie Esling Spencer Cliff Clint Smith Joseph Raggatt James Raggatt
Tina Porta Judy Hunter Jesse Morgan Jayden Popik Brittany Santariga
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ............................................. Terri Brabon EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ...............................Brendan O’Connor EXECUTIVE OFFICERS ............................................ Ray Dickson ............................................................................. Kellie Esling .................................................................... Lorna Hempstead .........................................................................Bernie Lanigan ................................................................... Anne-Marie Smith COMPANY PHOTOGRAPHER ...........................Chrissy Maguire PR CONSULTANT ............... Heidi Hatherall of Crystal Clear PR WEBSITE MANAGER ....................................... George Lummis
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