An international project to remember New Zealand soldiers who fought at Gallipoli will be staged in Palmerston North over Anzac weekend.
Voices of Gallipoli is a collection of verbatim testimonies from veterans who fought at Gallipoli and lived to tell the tale. These testimonies were told to Maurice Shadbolt nearly seven decades after the last shot in the campaign was fired. For many of the elderly soldiers, it was their first and last chance to tell their remarkable tales of suffering and survival.
Playwright Arthur Meek has adapted Shadbolt’s notes from these interviews so individual testimonies can be read aloud at Anzac commemorations and events around the world. This year is the first year of the project, and similar events will be hosted in places from Dunedin to London.
Actors Kane Parsons (The KaRs, That Bloody Woman, The Complete History of Palmerston North), Phil Anstis (Avatar 2, Misery) and Kate Louise Elliott (Outrageous Fortune, The Opening Night Before Christmas) will be the voices for three of the veterans.
The project is funded by Palmerston North City Council, the talent is provided by Centrepoint Theatre and the event is hosted by Te Manawa.
