Comrade Savage

By Anonymous -

   Comrade Savage 



MAGS Year 13 Drama students performed Comrade Savage, a play by Alan Brunton on Wednesday and Thursday this week – 6 & 7th April.  This well loved but little known New Zealand play brings one-time Kiwi Prime minister, Michael Joseph Savage to life (and death).  Mickie Savage’s Labour government swept into power in 1935 and is best known for its landmark social welfare reforms.  Savage was idolised by many New Zealanders. His photograph continued to hang on sitting room walls for many years after his death in 1940.
If you wonder what a group of today’s teenagers might make of a political play set in the Depression, don’t worry. They loved it - many seeing parallels with what is happening in the world today.

Here are some spontaneous thoughts gathered from the student cast about the experience:

“It was thought provoking, and insightful into early NZ politics.” 
“It was pretty stressful because of all the other commitments we had at the same time -
Polyfest, internal assessments etc and some of us also have outside performances.” 
“As there were so many props we had to learn how to get really organised back stage.”


From Elliot Paton-Simpson (one of two Savages) - “It was interesting to talk to my grandfather, who was born not long before Joe Savage died and while he was in power. I got to hear how Michael Savage was exalted as one of the greatest New Zealanders of all time.  He was a defender of the working class and he believed in ‘social security’. Back in the Depression people could become destitute at any time. With national Social Security people knew they wouldn’t lose everything if they had an accident.  They knew they were protected by the state. Savage’s Labour government implemented the welfare state - introducing unemployment benefits, free medical care and free education. These social protections are still around today. It was also really interesting to hear the controversy around the fact that the same men who had been conscientious objectors in WW1, helped to introduce enforced conscription in WWII.”



REVIEW - Marian Moore, English dept
It was a real pleasure to see New Zealand history come to life in the Year 13 drama production, Comrade Savage. I remember Michael Joseph Savage’s photo hanging on the wall in my Grandfather’s shed, overlooking his home brew. 
I grew up knowing what a difference his Labour Government had made to the lives of working people. I really enjoyed seeing a little of the darker side of Savage. It was a timely reminder that great people are also flawed, but this can never diminish their achievements. I hope that by our students exploring our history, it will help us to avoid the mistakes of history repeating itself. 
I look forward to more drama productions and really appreciate all the hard work and talent that goes into making such a memorable evening.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition

By Anonymous -
Are you a keen writer? Are you interested in current issues? Do you want to convey a message globally? If you answered yes to all of the above, then The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is for you! This competition is open to anyone in the Commonwealth, aged 18 or under. It started 135 years ago, and has been giving our youth the chance to express themselves and their opinions in the form of writing. The Royal Commonwealth Society runs it with the ambition to change the lives of citizens in the Commonwealth. They hope to promote youth empowerment, education, and advocacy.  Each year, four winners win a trip to London to take part in a ‘Winners’ Week’ programme of activities, including an Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace! Other prizes in the past have been signed books and gold pens. Gold, Silver and Bronze Certificates are awarded to excellent entries, but every child who enters the Competition receives a ‘Certificate of Participation’. Schools recei...
Read more

Comics

By -
Image
The Summer holidays are coming up for those of you who are not yet out of school. And what better thing to do in your holidays than read comics? Well I guess you could go outside ... and read comics. So here's some basic myths about comics debunked followed by details on how you can get into comics that would interest you. 1. They are hard to read. A common comment I hear from people is that comics are too hard to read, the thing is - they're not really. And that's not because I was brainwashed from a young age to understand them. Comic books are literally books, you just read them like books. Left to right and top to bottom. As soon as you get used to it you forget you're even doing it. Action Comics, art by Andy Kubert, written by Grant Morrison 2. They are not all superheroes. Secret Wars #1 cover by Alex Ross Contrary to popular belief superhero comics don't dominate the medium. Well they do but... they don't. There are tons of superhero co...
Read more

RIDDLES

By Anonymous -
1) A boy fell off a 1000 foot ladder, but did not get hurt, how is this possible? 2) One day a little boy named John told his parents that for his job, he wanted to shoot people and blow them up. His parents were very proud of his career choice. What does John want to do? 3) A farmer owns a massive pear tree, and he supplies fruit to a nearby grocery store. The grocer wants to buy some of his fruit, and wants to know how much is available for purchase. The farmer calculates that there are 24 branches, and each branch has 12 boughs, and each bough has twelve twigs. if each twig bears 1 fruit, how many plums will the farmer be able to deliver? 4) Two sisters, one dark and one fair, dwell in twin towers. One is from the land, and one is from the sea. What are they? 5) What is one question that you can never truthfully answer to? 6) Two girls both sat down at a cafe and ordered iced tea. One girl ordered one glass, and in the time she drank it, the other girl had drank five. The...
Read more