Standard English see Shoe-Horn Sonata

On Thursday 1 June, the senior Standard English class traveled to Redfern to see a performance of their prescribed text, a play by John Misto called “The Shoe-Horn Sonata”. Warm and generous hosts Peter and Marianne from Beautiful Burgers provided lunch for us before the performance – delicious!

Students said:

'The play is about two women who are part of a documentary about their experiences as captives in a POW camp during WW2. It was written in recognition of all the nurses and civilians who died in the camps. More civilians died in that war than soldiers did, and they aren’t remembered.'

'The play was enjoyable, yet also confronting. As the two characters, Bridie and Sheila, retold stories from World War Two and their experiences as nurses who were prisoners of war, the whole audience was shocked... It was an amazing and eye-opening play that helped us to understand what we have studied.'

'I found it… compelling, complex and sincere – it challenged the viewer and made people laugh and even cry.'

Students had to 'hot foot' it back to the train once the show was over – luckily, they had their shoe-horns!

By The Standard English Class.