“Wow! What a powerful work ... this needs an audience”
Christine Husband, director
Welcome to Soldier Boy The Play, adapted by Anthony Hill from his award-winning classic war novel Soldier Boy about the youngest Australian Anzac, first published by Penguin Random House in 2001.
The play is a full-length dramatisation of the tragic story of 14-year-old Jim Martin who lied about his age, joined the army in 1915, and died of typhoid after just seven weeks on Gallipoli.
With a large cast of characters, "it would work equally well in a classroom, as in a hall or theatre." Christopher Bantick writer.
“...you have the authentic Gallipoli and capture ... the real feel of the place.”
Dr Michael McKernan, historian, former deputy director AWM
eBook now available on Amazon $11.99
"Another effective way of bringing to readers something of the history and tragedy of war..."
Margot Hillel review of Soldier Boy The Play in CBCA Reading Time
Quick Links
Introduction by Christopher Bantick
Synopsis of Soldier Boy The Play
Preview:
Prologue & first four scenes
Teachers' Notes
Soldier Boy song and march
Soldier Boy photo album
Soldier Boy Chapter Notes
Link to Soldier Boy novel
Soldier Boy The Play
* The action takes place between June 1914, and October 1915 on board the hospital ship Glenart Castle anchored off Gallipoli; the Martin home and school in Melbourne; the troopship Southland; and the heights above Anzac Cove.
* In real time the play occupies the 100 minutes from when Jim was brought aboard the hospital ship at 5 pm on 26 October 1915 – and in his memory – before his sudden death at 6.40 that evening.
* Act One. Jim joining up. Compulsory school cadets – the outbreak of war – emotionally blackmailing his parents by threatening to run away if they don't sign a consent letter.
* Act Two. Jim under fire. A torpedo attack on the troopship – and the horrors of Gallipoli. Very different to the glamour and adventure so many young soldiers imagined. Nowhere is safe from shellfire, snipers and disease borne by flies, rats and filth.
* Soldier Boy the Play was written for theatre companies and audiences of all ages. But author Anthony Hill certainly had in mind the many students who study Soldier Boy the novel.
* There is a revised set of Teacher's Notes written by Sarah Read for the play combining original notes for the novel by Jane Pulford.The Notes contain icons to signify links to the Australian Curriculum Core Capabilities and English 7-10 Sub Strands.
Winter 2024 Newsletter Background
The Beach Cemetery, Anzac Cove, looking up to The Sphinx
Photo Credits
Soldier Boy novel, courtesy Penguin Random House
Soldier Boy The Play cover and bookmark designed by Cathy Larsen
Gallipoli photographs by Anthony Hill
