Gallipoli Director Nigel Jamieson
Gallipoli is one of the Sydney Theatre Company's most ambitious shows. Alexandra Coghlan meets author/director Nigel Jamieson
Despite being English you have not only made a career in Australia but have explored predominantly Australian issues in your work. Why? First of all I fell in love with an Australian, and then fell in love with Australia. One of the reasons I decided to stay was Paul Keating's ‘Creative Nation' speech, where he talked about artists being at the centre of our society and their duty to voice who we are as a nation and where we might go. That was an incredible rallying call as an artist, and one I tried to respond to. One of the most exciting things about Australia is that it is still a young country. We are still living and creating our own mythology, whether it's Ned Kelly or Gallipoli. These are not myths that became calcified hundreds of years ago, they are myths that are being determined and shaped now.
Why return to the Gallipoli story now? When I started work on the show we were at war in Iraq, at war in Afghanistan. I think that if we have a myth or story in our culture about such issues then this is very interesting to return to that story and examine it through the lens of our current situation. I sometimes wonder whether if we told the Gallipoli story somewhat differently, if that would have affected our involvement in Vietnam or in Iraq.
So is your retelling of Gallipoli a cautionary tale? We need to learn lessons from our history; if all of our energy goes into pride, then it doesn't go into the absolute shame that we placed these boys in a position that was so crucifyingly terrible. That story was very closely censored in the way it was told to Australian press. Charles Bean [founder of the Australian War Memorial], said: ‘If I told the truth the Australian people would shout me out of court." So I think what is really important in this production is the telling of this story in some detail, giving voice the unvoiced.
You went to Turkey as part of your research... I just wanted to walk those trails, breathe the air and stand in the cove myself. I tried to make my way up Shrapnel Valley and got horrendously lost. I hadn't got any water with me, and I found myself on the edge of this incredibly narrow precipice. That was evocative to say the least - to have got lost in the same way that the troops themselves did on the day of the landing.
What can people expect from the show itself? In this show - just as in a war - surprise is everything. The audience will never know how the next part of the story is going to be told, whether it is going to erupt through the floor of fly from the rig, or whether it will involve people running on vertical surfaces. The production is very adventurous, and tries to be new and fresh in the way it makes theatre and tells the story.
See Gallipoli at Wharf 1 Fri 25 Jul - Sat 23 Aug.
