Dear Heart

‘Dear Heart’ is a very personal play; it is a true, World War II love story superbly crafted by WA’s esteemed playwright, actor and icon, Jenny Davis. After touring Australia and having been highly praised at the Edinburgh Festival, this sensitive adaptation of Jenny’s aunt’s biography returns to Perth. Allen and Unwin have published this tremendously moving novel; might I suggest that if you cannot see the play, ask for the book for Mother’s Day.

As part of ANZAC week and Agelink Theatre’s 20^th anniversary, The City of Perth are proud to be working together to encourage the creation of theatre from our seniors’ rich and valuable, oral histories.

For only a short season, this special show is being presented in the Great Southern Room, on the 4^th floor of the State Library, in the Cultural Centre, Francis Street, Perth. The final 80-minute performance is on Saint George’s Day, Tuesday 23^rd April, at 9.30 am.

       A man in a cheap, ill-fitting demob suit and trilby hat is searching for the girl whose stories helped him through the war. Will he find her?

       We flash back about three years to 1942. A young, newly married girl, Wynne Brooks (Rebecca Davis) is sitting in her Walthamstow flat, in East London. She is writing a letter to her husband, Henry (Stuart Halusz) – better known as Mickey – who has just left for the air base at Lossiemouth, in the north of Scotland. Mickey is having a quick initial training, before boarding a ship to join his squadron.

       As Wynne writes another uplifting letter to the one that has always called her ‘Dear Heart’, she explains the loneliness that she is already experiencing. After a month, a postcard arrives from Durban in South Africa, Mickey is well, and enjoying the sunshine and the beaches. However, soon he will be moving on to his final destination, a place that the censor will not allow to be mentioned on his card.

       Wynne writes two or three times a week. She hasn’t always much news, but the old art of letter writing is strong, and besides it is the trivial happenings of the day that add richness to each piece of correspondence. Wynne doesn’t seem to get much in reply, but at least knowing that Mickey is being buoyed up by her letters to him, gives her hope in return.

       Her husband has been away for more than a year now, how much longer can it be before his return? Her friend at work has received the ‘dreaded telegram’ regarding her husband in Singapore, Wynne helps her friend through her desolation, and herself through her own loneliness by listening to Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, 18^th Variation – Mickey and her favourite. (Coincidentally, Rachmaninoff died precisely when things were at their very worst for Mickey). How long will it be until Wynne hears from Mickey again?

This tear jerking story is wonderfully constructed script. It is the perfect balance between the suffering of war counterpoised with hope and optimism. It isn’t too sentimental, nor does it try to hide the truth of human suffering in war.

With the genuine letters and actual photos from the camps being projected on the screen (Aaron Stirk), the musical director, Craig Skelton, accompanies the stirring war songs, sung with passion by Alinta Carroll in a powerful, crystal-clear voice.

Lose your pet cat or dog for a night and the pain can be unbearable, not hearing about your husband or son for year upon year must have been absolutely insufferable. For the men in some of the world’s hell holes, with little food and no news, the war was more than some could bear.

It is so frustrating to find photos of distant relatives and not know who they are. In later life we often hear ‘Old Auntie Mary would have known that, if only we had talked more’. This wonderful moved-reading is a fine example of why we should all talk and listen to the older members of the family, and make notes for posterity.

This play is a fascinating, two-hankie reflection of the hard times and romance. Here, it is presented perfectly by a magnificent team, all of whom are major award winners.

A beautiful story flawlessly portrayed.