'We That Are Left is a journey into the lives of local people, from Pittsworth, Queensland, during the years of World War I. It is told from the perspective of Rosie Sticklen, a young girl, frustrated that she can’t join up to fight with her brothers, Henry and Jo, and Dad, Alf. She and her mother Abby bitterly disagree about whether to adapt to their new situation. Abby is content to sing with the choir, led by the indomitable, domineering Mrs Bedford, and to clean the house mindlessly, not even opening the men’s letters, in denial of being left behind, in a world of stopped time; Rosie, however, wants to farm the land if she can’t go with the men.
'Rosie’s frustrations at home and desire to help turn her to nursing and head to France to tend the troops. Rosie knows she must return to the farm, and her mother to face life which will never be the same again. Rosie must make her own decisions about choosing the life her family want for her and a life that she wants for herself with this new confidence brought about from the war.
'The Sticklen family is at the heart of the play; but We That Are Left is a title which encompasses both them and their descendants in our modern times. Rosie’s Great-Granddaughter, Emma, is threaded through the story; she has inherited the farm, and, expecting her first child, seeks to understand the baby’s legacy. The play ends with Emma’s discovery that, for her, the connection to the Anzacs and to those left behind lies within our shared humanity, within people, as long as we remember.'
Source: USQ ArtsWorx (http://artsworx.usq.edu.au/events/we-that-are-left/).
Produced at USQ ArtWorx 25-29 April 2015.
Director: Helen Howard.
