“If only veterans spoke while they were alive,” Hellenic RSL President Steven Kyritsis told Neos Kosmos during the rehearsals of writer/producer Meg McNena’s Blood and Bone.
It’s a play focused on the friendship between Greeks and Australians on the Cretan battlefields of World War II because, as Ms McNena says, “as people’s and nations we do better together”.
Like Mr Kyritsis, a veteran himself, the writer is concerned that many personal stories of brave soldiers are taken with them to the grave, resulting in heroic moments in history being overlooked by mainstream society.
Her work, Blood and Bone, she said, began to take shape and form when she met veteran Ned (Eric) O’Leary, 89 years old at the time. Gripped by his story of what it was like at the Battle of Crete when hundreds of ANZAC troops took to the mountains to evade capture, Ms McNena sought others like him and also met Jack Gallagher and Allan Simpson.
Director Demetra Giannakopoulos, who has teamed with Ms McNena for the staging of these two performances at The Renaissance Theatre on 20 and 21 February said that the tale is based on the reality soldiers faced, left with few provisions to fend for themselves, on the battlefields of Crete.
These men vividly recalled the shock they felt as the blue Aegean skies were painted black by thousands of parachutes of an enemy that fell from the skies on the first time paratroopers were used in battle, and noises of spring were drowned by the humming engines of aeroplanes.
“Their orders were to dig the trenches with their helmets,” Ms Giannakopoulos said. “This is based on fact.”
Living as fugitives, they were sheltered by hospitable Cretan civilians who faced execution by the Germans, and Ms McNena felt their story was one which needed to be told.
“I think for those veterans who went away, they came back changed,” Ms McNena told Neos Kosmos. “And the world they knew had changed also, because the world moves on…”
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Director Demetra Giannakopoulos and writer/producer Meg McNena. Photo: NK
Director Demetra Giannakopoulos and writer/producer Meg McNena. Photo: Supplied
Much like the diggers of Gallipoli, they suffered from PTSD, but unlike their grandfathers, they felt – and were – often overlooked as most people’s minds wander to the Dardanelles Strait rather than Greece when contemplating the ANZAC Corp.
“One of the things which the ANZACs I spoke with thought wasn’t covered was people’s misconception that they were okay because they were taken as prisoners of war by the Germans, and the idea that they didn’t suffer as much as prisoners taken by the Japanese. And yet they suffered,” Ms McNena said.
“There are certain stories that are told that are iconic in Australia, such as those from Kokoda or Changi, but people don’t mention the prisoners of war camp in Crete or Salonika or the other places where they went on to in Germany because these are not in the mainstream.”
Ms McNena points out that the Battle of Crete was for a long time neglected, as it is only recently that books have been published about this time in history.
“These veterans told me that they had medals for being in North Africa but they didn’t have a medal for the Greek campaign,” she said. “A play such as this is very important for the community, because one of the saddest things is that there hasn’t been enough stories told for veterans by their families and this is an opportunity for people to learn about this important battle in WWII.”
After meeting with the three ANZACs who inspired her story and hearing their stories before they died in 2011, Ms McNena felt a responsibility to them to stage their stories in a way which would incite empathy and understanding exactly 80 years since the campaign on 20 May, 1941.
“I don’t want to burden the play with too much responsibility,” Ms McNena said, “but it does have those elements in it; and they are added subtly so you can see it. And that’s the beauty of theatre, you create the world you see.”
Along with the hardship comes meaning and humour and Ms McNena also drew from her own experiences. “I remember working in the community and visit Greek homes as part of my work doing aged care assessments. In my first visits, I’d have an interpreter with me and when I first heard them say ‘Nai’ (meaning ‘yes’) I thought it was ‘no’ but I could see them smiling and saying no,” Ms McNena said. “So I had a whole misunderstanding which is fantastic as that comes into the play.”
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A journey
The journey of the veterans, took Ms McNena on a journey of its own. During a chance dining experience at The Philhellene restaurant, she met John Rerakis, who saw her scrutinising the photos on the walls and helped her in her research into the sights and sounds of Crete. Later she met Tony Tsourdalakis, who introduced her to Cretan music, at around the time she went to Crete for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Crete.
“When I went to Crete, I was able to experience the dancing, joyousness and the hospitality of the island. For me, just being in the place was important, to hear the sounds, to see what was going on in the fields, to be there at the anniversary in the same season when the battle was held, seeing the poppies, hearing the birds chirp,” she said, adding that she developed an interest in the stories of the women. “The more I read, the more I saw how very strong the women were, and kind. So I got the idea of bookending the story which starts and ends with the journeys of the soldiers. The stories of the veterans are very special and definitely are an inspiration, but the Cretan women’s story of sending off their children and welcoming another mother’s sons and looking after these sons of strangers who have come to look after them also caught my fancy.”
The world which Ms Giannakopoulou has created in the staging of the work is one of Cretan hospitality and resilience.
“It is a powerful story,” she said.
“Lizzy, who is the mother of one of the Anzacs who is in Melbourne has an interesting story which intertwines with the men’s tale.”
“These people didn’t even know Australia existed. Who knew about Australia back then anyway?” Ms Giannakopoulos said. “But an amazing friendship develops.”
Ms Giannakopoulos states that a rich story will be brought to life as audiences are taken from Melbourne to the battlefield. “There’s a lot of detail,” she said.
As for the Greeks, they are depicted as a “lively, welcoming, hospitable, fierce, brave, loyal” people, Ms McNena said.
“It helps to understand that longstanding connection which Australians and Greeks have,” said Ms Giannakopoulos.
‘Blood and Bone’ will be performed at The Renaissance Theatre (826 High Street, East Kew) on Saturday, 20 February, 2021 at 6:30 pm and Sunday, 21 February, 2021 at 3:30 pm. Tickets are at Trybooking.com. More info at 0412 320 480