The One Day of the Year

In 1960 The One Day of the Year was rejected by the Board of the Adelaide Festival of Arts who felt that the play was too controversial and producing it could run the risk of insulting the RSL.  In July of that year the Adelaide Theatre Group, under the directorship of the inimitable Jean Marshall, mounted the world premiere of the play in Willard Hall, Wakefield Street. It turned out to be a production as controversial as the Festival Board had predicted and, with Jean and other participants receiving death threats, there was a heavy police presence on Opening Night.

There is no doubt that Alan Seymour’s now iconic play would have been controversial in terms of its commentary on the ANZAC legend in 1960 and indeed did cause a ruckus within the RSL. However, the play is much more than that. Themes such as racism, generational differences, the class divide, mental health and substance abuse are still political hot potatoes and resonate as loudly in our society today as they did in the 60s.

All of the action takes place within the home of Aussie battlers Alf and Dot Cook, and their son Hughie. Director Kerrin White has designed a modest 1950’s interior, perfectly reminiscent of the time, from ceramic and bakelite electric jug to lacy antimacassars, electric meter to cathode ray television.  The set is sympathetically lit by Richard Parkhill, with the dawn scenes worthy of special mention.

The heart of the home is undoubtedly the kitchen. It is here, over several beers, and barely without drawing breath, that Alf (John Rosen) bombastically imparts his views on all that ails post-war Australia as his long-term mate, and veteran of both World Wars, Wacka (Christopher Leech), quietly listens and stares into the distance.

For Alf’s long-suffering wife Dot (Julie Quick) and son Hughie (newcomer Jai Pearce) this is a scene that has been played out annually in April for as long as they can recall. The lead up to Anzac Day has repeatedly brought with it an increase in the tipple and the rhetoric that so often goes hand and hand with “the drink”.

Tensions boil over between Alf and Hughie, when Hughie refuses to attend the Dawn Service for the first time in his life.

John Rosen packs a powerful punch as Alf Cook. Alf is not a character that is easy to like, but beneath all his piss and wind there lies a man with regrets, a man with vulnerabilities, and Rosen ably brings these qualities to the fore. As his wife Dot, Julie Quick is a delight, a woman who sees all, is quick with a cup of tea to quell tensions, a nurturer who, as women often do, attempts to keep the peace on the home front at all costs.

Wacka Dawson is the true ANZAC of the play, having been dug in on the peninsula for 9 months in his youth. Christopher Leech brings an honesty and dignity to Wacka . As he sits largely silent throughout Alf’s moments of braggadocio, Leech enables us to sense the underlying grief and horror that he has experienced.

The two young characters of the piece are well played by Jai Pearce as Hughie and Ashley Penny as his girlfriend Jan. Although it could be easy to play these characters as superficial, obnoxious, privileged, educated, outward looking youth, almost as caricatures, the pair give a certain pathos to the roles, and bring to the fore the juxtaposition of the realities of conflict versus the celebration of war.

Nearly sixty years after it was first performed, The One Day of the Year seems frighteningly relevant all over again. It raises questions about our attitudes to so many issues that are once again at the forefront for Australia: immigration, mental health, substance abuse, family conflicts, our returned forces, and, not least, to the recent rise of jingoism in relation to our commemoration of both ANZAC and other conflicts fought by Australians.

This is an outstanding production of a classic Australian play. Don’t miss it.

Jenny Fewster