The Long Way Home

Tim Loch and Odile Le Clezio. Image by Lisa Tomasetti. 

In the aftermath of war, the battle rages on in the homes and minds of returned soldiers and in their relationships with loved ones. In the vacuum of ceasefire, a new, silent struggle begins, with no tangible enemy, which cannot be fought with weapons or fists, which cannot be won, but may be overcome. Such is the premise of The Long Way Home, a collaboration between playwright Daniel Keene and the Australian Defence Force.

Featuring a cast of returned servicemen and women alongside professional actors, the play is loosely structured around the experiences of two servicemen returning home, their reintegration into civilian life, their relationships with their wives and their experiences in therapy. Glimpses of other soldiers’ experiences are interspersed throughout, via external characters and real life video interviews. The result is a compelling narrative exposing a surprising vulnerability, with a good dose of rough and ready, dry Australian humour to break up the awkwardness. It’s not the STC’s most polished piece – stories are interwoven almost haphazardly, and there is no strong journey arc guiding us here, but the pace is engaging enough to overlook all that. One could go as far as to say that the lack of structure works in its favour – the almost random patchwork of anecdotes adds a surreal dimension and mimics a subjective, unrehearsed experience of reality better than a tightly produced script ever could. In fact, it is the conventional tools of storytelling that seem to jarr in this play. In an attempt to create a character arc, some childhood flashback scenes of kids playing toy soldiers have been included, but juxtaposed against the gritty personal accounts, these scenes jump out as contrived and cliché.

The STC should be applauded for taking on an innovative and courageous work here. They have stepped well and truly out of their comfort zone, collaborating with performers and writers from a non-theatrical background. The servicemen and women on stage give impressive performances, especially taking into consideration their lack of acting experience, and that many had sustained physical injuries impeding their progress. On first glance, acting and the army might seem an unlikely pairing. However, this play makes you realise that returned servicemen and women have already spent a great deal of time ‘performing’ when trying to reintegrate back into society.

The real strength of this play, more than a compelling story, more than insight, more than empathy, is that this is a play with real purpose, and it is with this that the audience connects. In enacting their stories on stage, these servicemen and women are afforded a unique opportunity to talk openly about their experiences, while somewhat shielded by the protective veil of a theatrical setting. Theatre as therapy is a provocative concept that carries a hazard of descending into self indulgence, however this play is in no danger of that – the characters are too likeable, too humble. Their stories carry an urgency to be told – not necessarily to be heard, but simply to be released, and I for one felt privileged as an audience bearing witness to that profound moment.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5