ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE

$5.40 – $15.00

Absent Without Leave begins in 1995. Two elderly men meet in Queensland and share memories of their time as soldiers in New Guinea. One of their best friends has recently passed on. From there the play revisits the dangerous experience they all underwent in the heat of battle. Forced to be still and silent for a long period of time the men became totally reliant on each other where even the slightest noise or action would bring about their demise. The men reminisce about the lives they have left behind in Australia, their aspirations for the future and significant moments in their young lives, which serve to fuel their courage and their fear during their long entrapment. The play also looks at how these extreme circumstances affect the men’s lives when they return home and how they cope with their wives, children, working lives and post war society.

APT