Breaker Morant (play)
Encyclopedia
Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts is a significant Australian play written by Kenneth Ross
, centred on the court-martial and the last days of Lieutenant Harry "Breaker" Morant
(1864–1902) of the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC)
, that was first performed at the Athenaeum Theatre, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
, on Thursday, 2 February 1978, by the Melbourne Theatre Company
.
The first performance of the play was directed and designed by John Sumner (1924-), the founding director of the Melbourne Theatre Company.
's 1980 film Breaker Morant
.
The screenplay of the film, to which Ross had made a considerable contribution as a writer (i.e., in addition to his stage play having been the inspiration and basis for the screenplay), was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
Kenneth G. Ross
Kenneth Graham Ross is an Australian playwright and screenwriter best known for writing the 1978 stage play Breaker Morant, that was based on the life of Australian soldier Harry "Breaker" Morant....
, centred on the court-martial and the last days of Lieutenant Harry "Breaker" Morant
Breaker Morant
Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant was an Anglo-Australian drover, horseman, poet, soldier and convicted war criminal whose skill with horses earned him the nickname "The Breaker"...
(1864–1902) of the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC)
Bushveldt Carbineers
The Bushveldt Carbineers were a short-lived, multinational mounted infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in South Africa during the Second Boer War. The BVC is recognized as the world's first modern Special forces for the use of counter insurgency tactics.The 320-strong regiment was...
, that was first performed at the Athenaeum Theatre, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, on Thursday, 2 February 1978, by the Melbourne Theatre Company
Melbourne Theatre Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne. Founded in 1953, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia, and has its own theatre, The MTC Theatre – which houses the 500-seat Sumner Theatre and the 150-seat Lawler Studio – located in Melbourne's Arts...
.
The first performance of the play was directed and designed by John Sumner (1924-), the founding director of the Melbourne Theatre Company.
First performance
The cast of the first performance of the play, directed and designed by John Sumner, on 2 February 1978 were:- Lieutenant Harry (Breaker) MorantBreaker MorantHarry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant was an Anglo-Australian drover, horseman, poet, soldier and convicted war criminal whose skill with horses earned him the nickname "The Breaker"...
— Terence DonovanTerence Donovan (actor)Terence Donovan , also known as Terry Donovan, is an English-born Australian actor and the father of fellow actor and entertainer Jason Donovan... - Lieutenant George Witton — Gary DayGary Day (actor)Gary Day is an actor who has appeared in Australian television police drama series, including Homicide and Murder Call.- Television :Day worked as a male model and appeared in several television commercials...
- Lieutenant Peter HandcockPeter HandcockPeter Joseph Handcock was a Veterinary Lieutenant in the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Boer War in South Africa. Handcock and Harry "Breaker" Morant were court martialed and executed by firing squad on 27 February 1902 on murder charges for shooting Boer prisoners and a German missionary, Jacob...
— John Stanton - First Interrogator; President of the Court-Martial [Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Cuthbert Denny (1858-?)] — Barry HillBarry Hill (writer)Barry Hill is an Australian historian, poet, journalist and academic.Hill was born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied at the University of Melbourne gaining his Bachelor of Arts , Bachelor of Education and a Doctor of Philosophy and from there went to London where he gained his Master of Arts ...
- Second Interrogator; Dr. Johnson; Officer — Edward HeppleEdward Hepple- Stage :He was part of the cast in the first public performance of Kenneth G. Ross's important Australian play Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts, presented by the Melbourne Theatre Company at the Athenaeum Theatre, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on Thursday, 2 February 1978.- Television...
- Third Interrogator; Mr. Robinson; Officer; Colonel Hamilton — Anthony HawkinsAnthony HawkinsAnthony Hawkins is an Australian television actor, perhaps best known for his role as Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Smith in the television series Special Squad...
- Major James Francis Thomas — Jonathan HardyJonathan Hardy- Stage :He was part of the cast in the first public performance of Kenneth G. Ross's important Australian play Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts, presented by the Melbourne Theatre Company at the Athenaeum Theatre, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on Thursday, 2 February 1978.-Film:His film...
- Major Bolton — Gerard MaguireGerard MaguireGerard Maguire is an Australian stage, voice and television actor, best known for his role as Deputy Governor Jim Fletcher in Prisoner...
- Lord KitchenerHerbert Kitchener, 1st Earl KitchenerField Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
— Simon Chilvers - Sgt-Major Drummitt; Sergeant — Rob Harrison
- Trooper; Trooper Botha; Trooper — Gary Down
- Corporal; Captain Taylor; Corporal — Michael Edgar
- Trooper; Corporal Sharp; Trooper — Roy Baldwin
- Trooper; Van Rooyan; Trooper — Ian Suddards
- Trooper; Officer; Trooper — Peter Dunn
- Officer — Detlef Bauer
- Trooper — Michael Morrell
Review of first performance
Conversion to a movie
The script of Ross's play was almost immediately converted into the screenplay for Bruce BeresfordBruce Beresford
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 40-year career.-Early life:...
's 1980 film Breaker Morant
Breaker Morant (film)
Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian film about the court martial of Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring British actor Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant...
.
The screenplay of the film, to which Ross had made a considerable contribution as a writer (i.e., in addition to his stage play having been the inspiration and basis for the screenplay), was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
External links
- Australians at War: Major Thomas Defended Breaker Morant
- Personal Histories: Boer War & WW1: James Francis Thomas - The Man Who Defended Breaker Morant
- Fox, Frank, "The Bushveldt Carbineers: Letter to the Editor", The (Adelaide) Advertiser, (Wednesday, 2 July 1902), p.6, Col.I.
- "The Court-Martialled Australians: How Morant and Handcock Died: Letter From Their Warder", The Argus, (Thursday, 3 April 1902), p.5, col.C.
- Ross, KennethKenneth G. RossKenneth Graham Ross is an Australian playwright and screenwriter best known for writing the 1978 stage play Breaker Morant, that was based on the life of Australian soldier Harry "Breaker" Morant....
, "The truth about Harry", The Age, 26 February 2002. (Written on the hundredth anniversary of Morant's execution and the twenty-fourth anniversary of the first performance of his play, the same article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald of 26 February 2002 in almost identical form) - 'Villains or Victims' in Australian War Memorial, Wartime, Issue No. 18, 2002, pp. 12–16.
- Wilcox, Craig. 'Ned Kelly in Khaki', in The Weekend Australian Magazine, 23-24 Feb, 2002, pp. 20–22.