Revue program 'We Travel Round The World" from Tatura internment camp

Datec 1941

Object numberANMS0220[005]

NameProgram

DimensionsOverall: 190 × 126 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Heinz Lippmann

Terms

DescriptionA program for a review titled 'We Travel Round The World' from the Tatura internment camp in Victoria. The performance covered 12 scenes with the internees performing the roles and music. The program also includes advertisements for various services available within the camp. HistoryOn arrival at the camps at Hay and Tatura the internees were faced with a harsh physical environment. Dry and desolate, the camp was very basic with some elements still incomplete. In addition to the physical deprivations, internees were very limited to outside contact with the number of letters written and received closely monitored. Taken from their homes and family already, the remoteness of Hay must have seemed very alien and overwhelming to many men, some of whom were only 18. A diary extract from the time reads: "I do not hear the birds or the grasshoppers with my troubled mind. Not the sky or the sun. Everything appears to me like the landscape behind the veil of barb wire." [http://www.theage.com.au] In order to establish some kind of routine and normalcy in such adverse conditions, the camps became very organised. There were designated camp and hut spokesmen, camp currency, kitchen and entertainment committees, a newspaper and most importantly for many, a form of camp university. Many of the internees had been leaders in their profession back in Europe and their skills in the camp did not go to waste. Teachers taught, musicians played, writers wrote, lecturers lectured and the hundreds of skilled workers built, grew and created what the camp required. All of this was important not just make the physical side of life more comfortable or to fill in the long hours, but to keep the morale and the cultural side of the men’s lives active. Revues such as 'We travel around the world' served to keep songs from home alive in addition to some performances written in the camp. The instruments used were made from material salvaged from what they could find and the artwork by artists who were able to still express themselves creatively.