One Man ....Nine Characters

Mark Wright , who has starred in almost 40 different television series including What Now and Shortland Street, is performing his one-man play to commemorate Anzac.  An actor at the height of his powers, Mark is one of the few actors who can convincingly jump from playing an 18-year-old conscript to an 80-year-old veteran, without missing a beat, and carry the audience with him.  And what a ride!

He is a war veteran, a lieutenant colonel, an army doctor, a beloved son.  Each symbolised by a different piece of headwear, the characters are more than just a monologue on a stage. They are more than just stories and words, however poignant...they are people.  Inspired by real-life stories, the men who are revealed on-stage not only give an insight into who they were and what they were doing, they also speak of others like them, others who may not have been as lucky; others who may be missing them back home.  You mourn for them, you grieve with them, but in almost the same breath, you smile at them.  With a deft hand, Mark balances the sombre stories with humour. From the out-of-touch British Army general, the glass-half-full Aussie reciting poetry, and the recognisable Kiwi who brings light in dark times, the dialogue of each monologue is expertly crafted. 
 
Mark has a passion for the self-driven project. The self-confessed “amateur historian” fronted a 2014 documentary series which saw him complete a “life-long dream” by travelling to Gallipoli and the Anzac Cove in Turkey.  His great-grandfather was the proprietor of the Rob Roy Hotel in Waihī, which is where he first performed this show, two of his great uncle’s served in Gallipoli, returning to New Zealand injured and dying shortly after World War I due to complications from their wounds.

It is perhaps this respect and awareness of his characters that makes The Gallipoli Monologues a show to watch....It requires no prerequisites of knowledge, just a willingness to absorb.  90 minutes of sageness and savagery that will get you thinking not just about our nation’s past, but how much things really don’t change.