Breaker Morant is an Ozzie legend. The son of an English admiral who was sent to Australia, he soon made himself indispensable to the British army with his exploits in the Boer War as an officer in the Bushveld Carbineers, a prototype commando unit which fought the Boers on their own terms, largely ignoring the protocol of combat hitherto adhered to.
For me the play, by Kenneth G Ross, is a wonderful history lesson. I was fascinated to learn about what remains to most of us an obscure and rather inglorious part of British history. The British army was basically only too keen to use the skills of the Australian bush men to try and make some headway in this difficult struggle, but found their tactics difficult to defend and eventually wanted to wash their hands of them.
It was Morants misfortune, along with fellow Lieutenants Peter Handcock and George Witton to be charged with a series of atrocities, including the bizarre charge of inciting murder. The play is basically a dramatisation of the events leading up to their court martial and that trial itself, as the British hung them out to dry Lord Kitchener himself had given the order to shoot prisoners, but he never took the stand and his immediate subordinates denied any such order was ever given.
As I said, the story is fascinating as a history lesson, but dramatically it lacks punch. That the British army and Empire were capable of devious behaviour and skullduggery is hardly news. The piece is mostly a typical courtroom drama, with lots of objecting and sustaining, and silence in court. In fact I lost track of the times the officer leading the court martial said I will tolerate no further disturbances in this court and then went on to tolerate further disturbances ad infinitum.
This being the Comedians Theatre Company, our hero is played by Adam Hills. Hes not bad, either, and one can see why his comrades would have been so willing to serve with him and under him. My main problem with the general acting was one of hearing it. This big purple cow really is very un-actor friendly, with no real sounding board so the sound, particularly when spoken slightly upstage, dissipates and is often inaudible. All the performances were pretty truthful, but Im afraid I cant tell you who played what, as the promo material lists only the many achievements of director Phil Nichol (he co-directed, in fact, with Tom Daley) and lists no other names involved.
This is a strangely old-fashioned sort of play for what in theory should be a more innovative kind of company, worth seeing for the insights it gives into the period as well as some interesting ideas about war and the nature of responsibility in it. Beyond that it is certainly a must for fans of Adam Hills, military geeks, Australians, and admirers of men in khaki with silly mustaches everywhere.
