Review – Ettie’s Boys

One hundred years on from the start of the First World War, only now has society caught up with Ettie Rout. Lambasted as a ‘wicked woman’ for her progressive approach to fighting the sexually transmitted diseases wreaking havoc on New Zealand’s military ranks, this bona-fide Anzac hero was a woman well ahead of her time.

Ettie’s exploits provide ample material for director Tony Moore and local playwright Ian McGrath to develop a compelling narrative in Moore Books SA’s production of Ettie’s Boys, and if anything, there is just too much to cover.

With a running time of well over two hours, the focus could perhaps be narrowed somewhat, but as a first-ever performance there was a strong impression that a masterpiece lurks within the wood of the script and Wright need only carve it out.

Appearing in just about every scene in the lengthy saga, leading lady Joanna Webb proves as indomitable and determined as the plucky Kiwi she portrays, delivering a performance brimming with understated complexity. Iain Herridge, Brian Godfry, Adrian Gruska, Maxine Harding, Stephen Jeffery and Jabez Retallick switch up between a colourful selection of supporting characters, with the unique relationship between Herridge’s roaring Fred Hornybrook and the ever-dry Ettie a particular highlight.

Without doubt, this account of one of the Great War’s most under-reported struggles is long overdue, although Ettie herself would probably have wondered what all the fuss was about.