By Daniel Keene. Sydney Theatre Company and the Australian Defence Force. The Canberra Theatre Centre. 20 Mar 2014

The battlefield has long been referred to as a theatre of war, however ‘The Long Way Home’ gives a very literal meaning to this somewhat sanitised term.

Inspired by the UK production ‘The Two Worlds of Charlie F’ that relayed the stories of wounded and injured British soldiers on return from Iraq and Afghanistan, ‘The Long Way Home’ is a similar project told from the Australian experience (though both share the same director in Stephen Rayne).

Most touching about both these projects is that they were also created as a form of direct rehabilitation for the servicemen and servicewomen involved. It must be noted that these soldiers were not simply consultants to the respective theatre companies – they workshopped their stories and performed them on stage alongside professional actors as well.

While this type of production might sound intensely harrowing, it is expertly blended with enough humour and poignancy to avoid being overly traumatic. The result was an honest and multi-dimensional re-telling of these most intimate of experiences, catching a rare glimpse behind the stiff upper lip of those trained to withstand suffering most of us would think unbearable.

‘The Long Way Home’ seemed to strike the right cord with Canberra, with tickets for each showing sold out by the time opening night rolled around. From what I could gather from the knowing laughs and enthusiasm of the responsive audience, I’m thinking there was a decent share of bums on seats from institutions such as Duntroon, the Australian Defence Force Academy and other military institutions. It was quite touching to observe their responses to what was occurring on stage, with much of it seemingly ringing true.

Told via a series of powerful vignettes, these stories didn’t shy away from much. Explored in great depth were issues such as culture shock, sleep deprivation, serious injuries, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the toll deployment takes on relationships back home – to name but a handful. However, the dominating overarching theme was the feeling of alienation when returning home from war, and the long road towards healing.

These darker moments were given intermittent respite by lighter moments exploring themes of mateship, bone dry military humour and a shared sense of identity, all peppered with a liberal dose of explicit, fruity dialect that would make Billy Connelly blush (tap arse, anyone?). The brilliant, metaphorically laden lesson on the chain of command was a highlight in this respect, all collectively lending a fascinating, behind the scenes insight into modern armed forces culture.

In regards to the performances themselves, they were so outstanding that I simply assumed the entire cast consisted of professional actors - it was not until afterwards that I discovered that many of them were actually from the Australian Defence Force, blending in seamlessly to the engaging and extraordinary mix.

While the swiftly changing set was minimalistic, it was highly effective – utilising a digital screen in the background for everything from the starry desert scenery, to the pre-recorded segues and employing only the most essential of props on stage. The sound was a mix of rough and ready Aussie rock/heavy metal, intertwined with more haunting compositions portraying the nightmares each protagonist privately endures.

Being that ‘The Long Way Home’ is predominately focused on individual soldiers’ experiences, rather than the country they are serving, it appropriately refrains from being overly patriotic. The only real example of patriotism is at the conclusion of the show, giving some sense of meaning and purpose to the brutal reality of war that had just been witnessed.

The evening ended with a dignified assemblage of the cast, with approval from the audience implicit in the heartfelt standing ovation. As no doubt each soldier on stage would have had their great moments of bravery in the field, fearlessly baring their heart and souls for this production is on par. If you’d like to understand what it really means when people say they sacrifice for the country, get along a see this remarkable piece of work.

Deborah Hawke

When: Closed
Where: The Canberra Theatre Centre
Bookings: Closed