Analysis of Act Two The Shoe-Horn Sonata: Module A: Distinctively Visual

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ANALYSIS OF ACT TWO THE

SHOE-HORN SONATA
Module A: Distinctively Visual
Abstract
Kylie Hetherington
Analysis of the Text
Analysis - Act Two, Scene Nine
The scene opens in the studio and dominating the space is a large image of both Australian and
British women bowing to the Japanese. This huge image remains throughout most of the scene
and the audience cannot escape its meaning. Both Bridie and Sheila are present and Bridie is off
to one side singing the Captive’s ‘Hymn’ (with the women’s choir). Sheila is speaking to the
camera and her answers to the questions are juxtapose with Bridie’s singing. In this interview we
learn about the situation in Belalau and the Japanese order that had been issued to kill every
prisoner of war.
Bridie’s illness and the way in which Sheila looked after her is made public—but Sheila baulks at
telling the whole truth about how she acquired the drugs to save her, making up the story of the
shoe-horn saving her. This information is picked up by the interviewer as if it is highly significant.
The scene ends with the story of Curtin’s message: ‘Keep smiling, girls’. The horror of this
command is emphasised by the image of Curtin and the prisoners and the Judy Garland song.
Further Analysis
This scene focuses on Sheila’s representation of events that continue the narrative of the
experience. Misto has given both women a scene where they are the protagonist effectively
allowing each woman to have a voice that is representative of both the Australian and British
women who were held in captivity. The isolation of each character on the stage in these two
scenes presents the audience with the opportunity to explore and note the similarities and
differences between their personalities – open, forthright, at times hubristic and reserved (unless
relaxed by alcohol) and modest, albeit with a touch of martyrdom.
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Note Making Activity
You are to cut out each of the statements above and stick them against the dramatic and language devices that they match to. Once you have done Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light, 10.5
this you are to write a statement of how the audience visualises the events and experiences of the women because of the way Misto uses dramaturgy pt
and language in the play.
Dramaturgy and Language Analysis Distinctively Visual Formatted: Font: Bold

Protagonist and isolation on
Formatted Table
the stage
Imagery Formatted: Font: Bold
Projected images and Formatted: Font: Bold

backdrop to the stage /
symbolism / echoing Scene i
Lighting and symbolism and
dramatic irony
Stage directions / dramatic
irony / simile
descriptive / verbal imagery
Images, motif and symbolism,
dramatic irony
Irony, music and projected
images
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Writing Activity Don't keep with next, Don't keep lines together
Overview (Topic Sentence)
Misto uses vivid imagery in The Shoe-Horn Formatted: Font: (Default) Arabic Typesetting, 16 pt
Sonata to point to the horrendous truth of the

experiences of the women during World War II.
Level One (Technique and Example)

Outline ONE use of imagery in this scene and provide an example.
Level Two (Purpose)

How does this work with the stage directions or dramatic elements to create a distinctively visual
image?
Level Three (Analysis)

How does the imagery (language) and dramatic techniques reveal the truth of the women’s
experiences? (Analysis)
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Formatted: Heading 1, None, Space Before: 0 pt,
Writing Activity Don't keep with next, Don't keep lines together
Convert your answers into a cohesive paragraph. (Topic Sentence, Technique
Example, Purpose, Analysis, Linking Sentence)
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Analysis - Act Two, Scene Ten
The transition to this Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light, 10.5

scene holds the image pt
of emaciated male
prisoners in view as we
move into a space that
is neither hotel room
nor studio although
both characters are still
wearing body
microphones. Sheila
has not gone to lunch
and is sitting doing
some kind of
tapestry—an image of
stitching things
together. Bridie
comments on the
photograph of the
soldiers—a comment
that stimulates a riposte from Sheila about the role of the government in suppressing information
about the women’s role in the war. This interaction between the on-stage action and the
projected visual images connects past and present.
Their conversation reveals the tension that is now out in the open. Recriminations flow as Bridie Formatted: Space After: 0 pt, Line spacing: single,
tries to make sense of what she has learned and Sheila tries to defend her actions, not only with Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
the Japanese but also in leaving Bridie after the war. The intercutting of Rick’s voice into their adjust space between Asian text and numbers
altercation leaves them not knowing how much he has heard. The juxtaposition of the song ‘I’ll
Walk Alone’ suggests the isolation of each of these victims of this dreadful situation.
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Below, the boxes which have been shaded “grey” need to be completed. Formatted: Font: Italic
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Ideas Dramatic features / What is visualised Analysis Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
Language features through these adjust space between Asian text and numbers
Specific examples dramatic features?
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from the text
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Violence against women Projected visual . The distinctive The size of the image Formatted Table
images / stage visual presented here dominates the screen Formatted: Font: Bold
directions is of the male with Sheila who
The scene opens experience sitting beneath it Formatted: Font: Bold
with the large overshadowing that presenting a Formatted: Font: Bold
photograph of the of the feminine; the metaphorical image Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri), 11 pt
male POWs in full needlework, getting of the male
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view. on with business is experience
the social and dominating that of Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri), 11 pt
The working on the cultural expectation, the female Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri), 11 pt
tapestry or both in Sheila’s own experience in terms
needlework also representation of self of exposure and
presents the – bearing her cross history. The silence
juxtaposition so to speak and of the womens’ Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri), 11 pt, Bold
between the getting on with the stories in the
Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri), 11 pt
masculine and the her life with memories of the
feminine. pragmatic feminine Australian public.
Find relevant industry. Secondly, Sheila’s
example. experience, silenced
for fifty years, hides
scars as significant
and as confronting as
the emasculated,
emaciated imagery
presented literally on
the stage.
Sheila’s response Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)
exposes the
controlling of image
perpetrated by the
Australian
government which in
part, has contributed
to the silenced
representations of
the extreme nature
of the experience for
the women.
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Ideas Dramatic features / What is visualised Analysis Formatted: Font: Bold
Language features through these
Formatted Table
from the text Formatted: Font: Bold
The discussion Illuminates and Formatted: Font: Bold
between the two suggests that we can
Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)
women on the and do control image
period they in order to construct
remained in hospital, a socially acceptable
to fatten them up perspective.
before they were Similar stories of
seen by the public. hiding the history of
women and
Find relevant privileging the Formatted: Font: Italic
example. narrative of men are
Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri), Italic
evident in evidence
from Singapore for Formatted: Font: Italic
the many women
who were held in
Changi or for those
held prisoner in
Japan. The women’s
Truth and telling the truth history of
imprisonment in
Changi history was
not written about
until 1968 and only
then has it come to
light the extent of
the illness, challenge
and inspiration that
can be drawn from
the feminine
experience.
Telling the truth The dialogue a tone of isolation Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)
between the two and loneliness
characters returns to pervades the scene.
the hotel room
revelation of Sheila’s
secret.
Find relevant
example.
The visual Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)

representation of the
characters on the
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from the text Formatted Table
stage, their Formatted: Font: Bold
proximity, the
awkwardness and
tension continues as
we see Bridie coming
to terms with Sheila’s
story.
Find relevant
example.
The confronting continues the sense Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)

images of Lipstick of cultural repression
Larry still haunt that has left Sheila
Sheila. The firmly placed in Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)
challenging notion of isolation, living alone
sacrifice and the constantly reminded
revelations of of the events that
Sheila’s mother have circumscribed
rejecting her need to her.
tell her story.
Find relevant
example.
a sense that whilst

There is genuine Sheila can rationalise, Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)
bitterness evident in if not forget her
the facial expressions sacrifice, Bridie
and body language cannot.
Find relevant
example.
The nature of history to The scene ends with reminds us of the Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)
obscure the truth and the realisation both overshadowing
silence the weak and women may have nature of history and
powerless in society been live on their explores how we are
microphones, which silenced by the
could have exposed expectations and
them both. constructs of a
The dramatic irony society that does not
that the story is now always want to
told and is now acknowledge truth.
public.
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from the text Formatted Table
Find relevant Formatted: Font: Bold
example.
At the very least,

society struggles to
deal with confronting
The scene ends with images this narrative Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)
the poignant strains presents about the
of Anne Shelton’s I’ll war and our
Walk Alone (lyrics do participation in it and
not start until 1:46). how it impacted on a
Find relevant range of individuals
example.

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adjust space between Asian text and numbers
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Analysis of Act Two, Scene 11
This scene is back in the studio and the visual image of the postcards seems dwarfed beside the
projected images that we have previously seen. The recitation of the words of each of the
postcards leads the women back into their memories. The moments of darkness highlight the
pain of these experiences.
In this scene the image of the sonata becomes significant as the women trawl back through their
memories together. In this scene, one of the most important issues of the play is highlighted—the
complete lack of acknowledgement by the Australian government juxtaposed with the pitifully
small amount of compensation paid by the Japanese government to these victims of the
power play of these sovereign states.
Literal images are presented from the outset of the scene with the postcard being held up for the Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light, 10.5
audience to see; the postcards, sent through the Red Cross, represent connection and pt, Font color: Auto
disconnection. Bridie’s postcard message has warmth and represents her connectedness to
family, Sheila’s, read by Bridie from memory, despite the 50 year time span, reveals the stoicism
of the British view she has been limited by her entire life. The staging of the women, side by side
presents unit; the knowledge of what was on each postcard reveals the intimacy of the
relationship presenting an innate spiritual connection between the two.
Mental images are provoked in the minds of the audience as the women relate digging graves Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light, 10.5
and singing songs, and the inspiration they drew from the music that not only strengthened them pt, Font color: Auto
but the other remaining women left in the camp.
Sheila’s evocative recount of her return to the camp is presented in halting phrases allowing the
audience to appreciate every image – or the absence of the images – huts, fences that now only
holds ghosts, both present and past. The shock expressed by Rick echoes the shock that is felt
by the audience at the realisation of the lack of dignity and commemoration afforded these
women and children. The extent of the loss of life is profound. Sheila presents the metaphor that
she has never left this place – the darkness that shrouds the stage for just a few moment echoes
the metaphysical darkness that has overwhelmed her life.
As the lights go up again the audience sees Bridie standing beside Sheila, a visual reminder of
their unity, a protective stance. She relates, with objective clarity, the pitiful compensation offered
by the Japanese and the shocking evidence that the Australian government would not support
them in a bid for more compensation. It would seem that the images of women as prisoners, and
the silences that have surrounded their representation, will continue.
The continuity of the plot is supported by the reference to ‘smiling’ from Scene Nine. The irony
presents the discomforting reminder of the years of deprivation ad abuse from the Japanese as
an ongoing trauma that both women carry with them.
The scene ends in darkness, deliberately confronting as a metaphor of an ending, a closing of

the reparations that can be made for the losses of those who were impacted on by this
experience.
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Techniques Examples of Visual Elements –
Techniques and Effect of visual
quotations from elements of the
Shoe Horn text
Tensions in their
relationship
Looking and seeing
the truth
Violence against
women
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Writing Activity
Overview (Topic Sentence)
Misto through intense dramatic and language in The Shoe-Horn Sonata intends for Formatted: Font: Californian FB, 14 pt
the audience to be participants in the realisation of the lack of dignity and

commemoration afforded these women and children.

Outline ONE use of imagery in this scene and provide an example.
Level Two (Purpose)

How does this work with the stage directions or dramatic elements to create a distinctively visual
image of the lack of official commemoration or memory for these women?

How does the imagery (language) and dramatic techniques reveal the tragic negligence in
memorialising the women’s sacrifice and resilience?
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Writing Activity
Convert your answers into a cohesive paragraph. (Topic Sentence, Technique
Example, Purpose, Analysis, Linking Sentence)
Page 13 of 27
Analysis of Act Two, Scene 10
This scene takes place in the motel room. Bridie is attempting to re-establish their relationship Formatted: Space After: 0 pt, Line spacing: single,
despite the obvious tensions between them. It is in this scene that we learn of Bridie’s ‘crime’ in Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
the David Jones’ food hall. We now understand how she feels and why she reacted in this way. adjust space between Asian text and numbers
Sheila’s reaction to this confession allows us to see how deeply scarred these women have been
by their experiences—not only by the Japanese, but also by the responses and inaction of their
own countries. Sheila’s realisation is that it is important not only for themselves but for the
thousands of others similarly afflicted to tell these stories in public. Bridie is not yet convinced
and the tension between them arises again. We are now aware that this tension is about the
present, the past, memories, recollections, reconstructions, truth, shame and guilt. The moment
of darkness returns, followed by images of ‘great men’ of history and the song, ‘Whispering
Grass’.
This scene returns the hotel room, Sheila’s, where the revelation of events took place in Scene Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light, 10.5
Eight. Bridie and Sheila are engaging in a dualogue that vacillates between bickering and pt, Font color: Auto
intimacy implying that this has been the nature of their relationship since their first meeting. We
are once again reminded of the imagery of the first meeting of the women and their earlier
debates on Sinatra and Crosby. Misto is reminding us here of the continuance of relationships
and the memories they have of each other as vivid and real.
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The image induced through the relating of one of the other women forgiving a Chinese waiter the pt, Font color: Auto
previous evening reminds us of the enduring images of the atrocities for all the women and how
they have ongoing impact. Misto cleverly reveals here the ways in which POWs have had to shift
their perspective of people and events in a world that has changed and moved on and to some
extent, politically, culturally and socially, wants to ignore the image of atrocity we have seen
through the photographs and through the stories we have been made witness to. Further Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light, 10.5
evidence of this idea is presented through Bridie’s relating to Sheila of being captured shop pt, Font color: Auto
lifting, because of ‘the Nips’. The way she names the people implies the negative connotations
she still associates with the Japanese. Misto highlights here the difficulties and challenges of pt, Font color: Auto
overcoming hatred and prejudice when you have been subjected to such devastating events and
experiences. We imagine and through that experience the visceral terror Bridie felt when Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light, 10.5
surrounding by Japanese tourists and we empathise with her need to run. The irony of this scene pt, Font color: Auto
is her refusal to tell the truth in court as she needed to preserve the secret of the stories of the
camp, a social expectation to protect the women or an unspoken imposition placed on her by
society and governments who have been unwilling to acknowledge and support the reparation of
such atrocities perpetrated on individuals. The damning aspect here is that this attitude has
impacted on a range of minority groups throughout history – Indigenous Australians, migrant
Australians and continues to repress story and truth for any range of social and economic
purposes and may provide worthy related material of making this point.
Images of fear, the guards and wanting to save Sheila (represented in Bridie’s dialogue) are
overshadowed by the truth of Sheila’s sacrifice. Both women are confronted by the truths they
now know of the other and yet understand. They both recognise the power of secrets. Ironically,
it has been Sheila who has been accused of keeping up a face of decorum throughout we now
see Bridie as being a victim of that same need to hide her self-imposed shame and secrets.
Sheila’s evocative dialogue reveals that the war is not over for her, and that she has come to the
realisation that only the telling of the truth, exposing the images of loss and sadness, of her own
integrity are the way forward. Cleverly, Misto reminds us, in this moment of vulnerability, of the
need to know the truth if we are to expose the pain and them work to accept our circumstances
and their consequences ourselves. The balance of power between the women has clearly shifted
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as it is now Bridie who wants to keep the secrets and Sheila who is empowered by the potential
freedom of sharing the truth.
The end of the scene is both poignant and humourous. Sheila, the character endowed with all
propriety and dignity, mocks Bridie as she leaves the hotel room with onomatopoeic clucking
reinforcing the stage directions that tell us she is visually flapping her arms as wings. We see a
freedom of expression and willingness to confront and challenge the attitudes of a society that
would prefer the images and stories of what occurred in the camp to remain hidden. The stage
shifts to darkness, a metaphorical reminder of how we hide truth in dark places so that we are
not confronted by them. Photographs appear on the scene of military leaders and prime ministers
reminding the audience that these are the men that orchestrate nations through war, that lead
nations, that construct the secrets, hide the secrets and perpetuate a narrative that is sanitised
and justifiable. The score of “Whispering Grass” (Inkspots 1940) is used to reinforce the imagery
of secrets, secrets which prevent individuals from being fully human and from living lives free of
fear. The sense that there should be a hidden history is a damning reminder of how we repress
unpalatable truths.
Complete the following note making activity using the text and the analysis above to complete the
note table.
Ideas Dramatic features / What is visualised Analysis

from the text
Truth
Violence and fear
Secrets and Hidden
History
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Writing Activity Eight
Topic Sentence
The distinctively visual positions the responder to gain an experiences about past events and
personalities. This acts as a catalyst, exposing the responder to the experiences of the women
and the long term effects of war that they suffered.
Overview
1. How has the idea in the topic sentence been revealed in Scene 12?

List three key uses of dramatic, visual and language techniques used in this scene. (Ensure you also
note the references or describe the examples. Make sure they connect to the topic sentences.)
Level Two (Purpose)

How do the visual elements of this scene provoke audience response?
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How do the dramatic techniques and the distinctively visual elements in this scene which enhance
our understanding and emotional response of the horror and sacrifice of war?
Writing Activity
Convert your answers into a cohesive paragraph. (Topic Sentence, Technique Example, Purpose,
Analysis, Linking Sentence)
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Writing Activity Nine
Topic Sentence
The distinctively visual allows the audience to intellectually and emotively experience the
betrayal of the women through secrets and hidden history.
Overview
1. How has the idea in the topic sentence been revealed in Scene 12?

List three key uses of dramatic, visual and language techniques used in this scene. (Ensure you also
note the references or describe the examples. Make sure they connect to the topic sentences.)
Level Two (Purpose)

How do the visual elements of this scene invoke a vivid response for the audience?

How do the audience responses reveal the betrayal of the women POWs by the Australian and
British governments through having their stories silenced?
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Writing Activity
Convert your answers into a cohesive paragraph. (Topic Sentence, Technique Example, Purpose,
Analysis, Linking Sentence)
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Analysis Act Two Scene Thirteen
This scene cuts straight into the interview as both Bridie and Sheila recount their experiences as the Formatted: Font: (Default) +Body (Calibri), 11 pt
war draws to an end. We hear about the diaries and the burning of these by the British. This is
overlaid with images of Hiroshima and the news of the death of Pearl after the war had officially Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
ended. There is a sense of calm as both women recount these events, although at one significant adjust space between Asian text and numbers
moment Sheila’s composure cracks. It is at this point that we see the symbiotic relationship that the
women had previously enjoyed. As Bridie finishes recounting the anecdote that Sheila had begun
they join hands and relive, together, that moment of memory and reconciliation. The playing of the
‘Blue Danube Waltz’ is a counterpoint to their memories. Dancing becomes associated with life and
joy and hope and survival, and this is juxtaposed with the Japanese atrocities in Belalau and the
visual images of the celebrations of the end of the war. The scene reaches a climax as the
confessions of the two women are made public. This is the moment of truth as Bridie tells about
Sheila’s personal sacrifice and Sheila tells of Bridie’s theft from David Jones. The simplicity of these
truths juxtaposed with the official ‘lies’ of the government ring out with a clarity and candour that is
underlined by the gradual darkness that follows the revelation. This scene ends with the sounds of Formatted: Font: (Default) +Body (Calibri), 11 pt
the hymn ‘An Epitaph to War’, images of the women recuperating and the huge projected image of
the army nurses arriving in Singapore.
Further Analysis Formatted: Heading 2

Sheila’s exposure of the government she has strenuously defended throughout the play presents
irony; the idea that the British took away diaries under the guise of a health risk and then never
returned them confirms the dialogue throughout the play of repressing truth, keeping secrets and
protecting the notions of Empire. Misto makes much here of the dogma of esteem and protecting
the image of the Empire. The discussions surrounding both governments reinforces earlier scenes
where Sheila criticises the Australian government for waiting until the women were not as thin and
emaciated before photographs could be taken, again to ‘protect’ but one needs to ask whether
these images would have protected the individuals, society or governments.
Relating the story of the prisoners being forced to climb a hill outside of the camp presents a range
of images that resonate for both Bridie and Sheila and through their telling, the audience. The
weakness and physical condition of the women are exposed; verbs such as ‘struggling’ and ‘crawling’
emphasise the challenge. The images in the minds of the women at the time are presented,
revealing their fears of shot in a further attempt to hide their presence. The biblical allusions, the
reciting of Psalm 23, reinforces the fear of an impending death. Bridie relates how Sheila sees why
they have been taken to this place before she does. The exclamatory repetition had forced them to
draw near to each other. The audience can imagine the desperate struggle this would have involved.
The listing of instruments and the transition into the strains of The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss
presents an abstract juxtaposition with their circumstances. The music presents the sentience of the
moment for the women, memories flooding in of their lives prior to the war. The nostalgia is
evocative. The promise made at that point in history is reiterated on the stage and is a
foreshadowing of the end of the play. The scene moves to explore how the women were found in
the last days of their captivity. They recount the historical facts of Hayden Lennard finding women
POWs and the miracle of being found – signifying to some extent that this was the end of what had
been a horrific ordeal. The lights flickering are a transition to present photographs as backdrops of
the celebrations in Australia at the end of the war. The score presents ‘Danny Boy’ a more traditional
British (Celtic) song about coming home. The women relate how they moved beyond the gates of
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the camp and we can imagine the challenges of walking away, with such impaired physical health.
The language presents the struggles and the fragility of the women.
The scene shifts at this point as rather than accepting an offer to take a break in filming; Bridie and
Sheila begin to tell the truths, revealing how their captivity has truly impacted on them both. The
significance here is that they are exposing images of themselves as women, not who were
disempowered by their secret narratives but now empowered by the fact that in sharing it publicly
they too are freed of the memories that have prevented them from finding resolution to their fears
and nightmares. The dialogue is powerful, halting and poignant. Whilst we have witnessed these
stories as an audience, the revealing of them to the interviewer implies they are now public images
that everyone can be exposed to and now must accept and resolve as an integral part of Australia’s
war narrative involving prisoners of war. The women are united on the screen, represented as
holding hands, and we see that they can be as one; the friendship conveyed here a powerful image
of re-imagining themselves as freed from the war. The reassurances and connections between the
two women present an image that is quite moving for the audience. The stage shifts into gradual
darkness, closing an episode as the soundtrack presents ‘An Epitaph to War’. Photographs present
the evocative images of the nurses effectively paying homage to their survival and in doing so,
celebrating the lives of those who did not come home. These images have been presented as links in
previous scenes.
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Analysis Act Two Scene Fourteen
The filming has finished, and Bridie is reading a newspaper—a poignant symbol of the official
version of news. The two colleagues and friends are now reunited and this is contained in the
image of the lifting of the suitcase. While most of the tension has been released there is still Formatted: Space After: 0 pt, Line spacing: single,
some unresolved business to be dealt with. Sheila holds out the shoe-horn, now the symbol not Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
only of their reunion, but also of their reconciliation. The two women embrace. The play ends with adjust space between Asian text and numbers
them women dancing to the ‘Blue Danube’ and in the slowly darkening space the final spotlight
falls on the shoe-horn.
The final scene of the play begins with Sheila sitting on stage; the set is her hotel room. The stage
directions infer that her suitcase is packed and she is ready to leave after saying her goodbyes. Bridie
enters the stage/room and presents the simile that illustrates Rick’s sense of success; it is a clichéd
simile and yet demonstrates that the interviewer feels he has been successful in conveying the story
and insights that will make his documentary meaningful – the dramatic irony is that the style of
delivery on stage, as a documentary with the personal insights integrated throughout, has presented
an insightful and poignant experience for the audience.
The women present banter in the scene but the profound imagery comes from mention of Formatted: Space After: 0 pt, Line spacing: single,
Christmas, evoking the need that they experienced in the camp continues to resonate and that these Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
women want to share some of those experiences in the future as their own form of reparation, adjust space between Asian text and numbers
addressing the memories by creating the tangible – the ones they ‘dreamed’ of in the camp.
Sheila gives Bridie her shoe-horn which is a poignant moment; the sacrifice embedded in its
presence is overwhelming. The embrace by the women presents a final moment of genuine affection
for the audience allowing us to see their conflicts and tensions resolved, although not in a ‘maudlin’
manner, to reiterate Sheila’s earlier phrase.
The scene and the play ends to the strains of The Blue Danube and the two women waltzing
celebrating finally, the freedom they now enjoy, not just literal freedom but a form of spiritual
freedom from the horrors that limited them both and had been the cause of tension throughout the
play.
The humour used in the final scene creates bathos; this is not a maudlin or depressing moment;
whilst there is nostalgia Misto reprises the barbs and debates of Empire and culture – Sinatra or
Crosby – that sustained the women throughout their time in the camps.
The spotlight on the shoe-horn focuses us on not only these women who have survived and their
shared narrative, but the symbolism it conveys, of many women and many songs and voices who did
not survive or, for those who did, may still not be in a position to share their story and be free as the
final moments of score and action on the stage of the two women dancing convey.
Misto leaves his audience uplifted; the significance of this final scene, the final image is that we Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
too can rise above even the most extraordinary and dire experiences and be uplifted and inspired adjust space between Asian text and numbers
and in turn, uplift and inspire others. Formatted: Font: Bold
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Themes and Ideas
History and historiography
While the focus of the play appears to be on the two individual characters, it is through their story
that we discover an even bigger story—the ways in which official sources construct histories so
that truth becomes a central casualty. In one sense the play is about historiography or the writing
of history. This is evident in various aspects of the play including the juxtaposition of the ‘factual’
information in the slides and the fictional characters. But it also operates within the stories of the
characters themselves moving within the stage space. The hesitation of the women to tell their
stories publicly has helped to skew the writing of the history. But we come to understand the
ways in which the women have effectively colluded with Japanese, British and Australian
officialdom by keeping their own counsel. It is interesting that now, fifty years after the war, they
are telling their stories in an oral medium because, unlike other official war stories, they have not
been recorded in writing.
It is also significant that in the telling of these stories it is the male interviewer who is seeking the Formatted: Space After: 0 pt, Line spacing: single,
information for another public medium of recording history—one that is as potentially selective as Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
the official government records can be. In both cases it is the stories that are not told—‘the adjust space between Asian text and numbers
negative information’—that leads to a skewed and untruthful account of events. This is a play
about the stories that are not told for various reasons.
Activity Formatted: Heading 2

1. Find three examples from the play Formatted: List Paragraph, Numbered + Level: 1 +
History and Dramatic features / What is visualised Analysis Numbering Style: 1, 2, 3, … + Start at: 1 + Alignment:
Historiography Language features through these Left + Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5", Don't adjust
Specific examples dramatic features? space between Latin and Asian text, Don't adjust space
from the text between Asian text and numbers
Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light
Page 23 of 27
Truth, honesty, candour
Truth is central to the ideas of this play. The idea of truth, telling the truth and recognising the truth Formatted: Space After: 8 pt, Line spacing: Multiple
is not located only in the interrelationship between the two women. Certainly, we come to 1.08 li, Adjust space between Latin and Asian text,
understand that there has been a concealing of truth between them during their time in the Adjust space between Asian text and numbers
camp and after their release. This concealment is aided by Sheila’s geographical isolation. For Bridie,
telling the truth has arisen as an issue in relation to the theft from the David Jones food hall. Telling
the truth is also shown to be an issue in their interactions in the present; but honesty—or more
significantly—lack of it, is also shown to be part of the modus operandi of the British, Australian and
Japanese. Official concealments have their official spin, but they are concealments, nevertheless.
Perhaps in the final analysis, this play demonstrates that such concealments cannot be contained
forever. Truth will out.
Activity
1. Find three examples from the play
Truth, honesty and Dramatic features / What is visualised Analysis
candour Language features through these
from the text
Page 24 of 27
Power relationships
This play explores power relationships at a number of levels. The most obvious power play on
stage occurs between the interviewer and the women that he is interviewing. This power play has
an ambiguous moment in which the women are uncertain as to whether Rick has overheard a
‘private’ conversation.
There is also a shifting power play between the two women themselves that is a reflection of Formatted: Space After: 0 pt, Line spacing: single,
shifts in the power relationships that had been in play between them during the war. These shifts Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
are also set against the power relationships between the British authorities and British nationals adjust space between Asian text and numbers
in Singapore, Australian authorities and the nurses and, of course between the Japanese captors
and the prisoners-of-war.
Activity
Power relationships Dramatic features / What is visualised Analysis
from the text
Page 25 of 27
Heroism
The play revolves around the heroic deeds of the women during the war. These deeds were acts
of physical courage of the highest order. For Sheila, the supreme sacrifice of selling her body to
the Japanese in order to obtain the necessary drugs for her friend’s survival is all the more
poignant as we understand the cultural and social background that she had come from. But
these are not the only deeds of heroism.
As the stories unfurl we encounter the heroic spirit not only of these two women, but of others Formatted: Normal, Don't adjust space between Latin
who were in the same situation. We come to understand heroism not only as a masculine and Asian text, Don't adjust space between Asian text
characteristic, and not merely associated with great physical feats. Sheila’s greatest heroic act is and numbers
to give her body to the Japanese soldiers in order to save the life of her friend.
pt
Activity
Heroism and Resilience Dramatic features / What is visualised Analysis
from the text
Page 26 of 27
Memories, dealing with pain, reconciliation
A key focus of this play is on the reconciliation that eventually occurs between the two women.
This reconciliation is not easily come by and indeed at some points throughout the play it seems
doubtful whether it is possible at all. The reunion of the two means that layers of memories must
be recalled, relived and reconstructed so that understanding and acceptance can come into play.
This is a painful process but both characters come to understand that running away from pain is
only one way of dealing with it and there is something satisfying for them in dealing with it in a
more open way now that they are together again.
For each character we see that there is both a personal reconciliation with painful memories as Formatted: Space After: 0 pt, Line spacing: single,
well as a reconciliation with each other. The reconciliation of their friendship can only occur when Don't adjust space between Latin and Asian text, Don't
the personal reconciliation has been achieved. What is obvious at the end of the play is that adjust space between Asian text and numbers
there has yet to be a public reconciliation for these women with the wider world which is still to
acknowledge them.
Activity
Memories and Truth Dramatic features / What is visualised Analysis
telling Language features through these
Reconciliation Specific examples dramatic features?
from the text

pt
Page 27 of 27

Analysis of Act Two The Shoe-Horn Sonata: Module A: Distinctively Visual

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Analysis of Act Two The Shoe-Horn Sonata: Module A: Distinctively Visual

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ANALYSIS OF ACT TWO THE

Dramaturgy and Language Analysis Distinctively Visual Formatted: Font: Bold

Projected images and Formatted: Font: Bold

Sonata to point to the horrendous truth of the

Level One (Technique and Example)

Level Two (Purpose)

Level Three (Analysis)

The transition to this Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light, 10.5

The visual Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)

The confronting continues the sense Formatted: Font: +Body (Calibri)

a sense that whilst

At the very least,

Formatted: Space After: 0 pt, Line spacing: single,

The scene ends in darkness, deliberately confronting as a metaphor of an ending, a closing of

the audience to be participants in the realisation of the lack of dignity and

Level One (Technique and Example)

Level Two (Purpose)

Level Three (Analysis)

Ideas Dramatic features / What is visualised Analysis

Level One (Technique and Example)

Level Two (Purpose)

Level One (Technique and Example)

Level Two (Purpose)

Level Three (Analysis)

Further Analysis Formatted: Heading 2

Activity Formatted: Heading 2

Formatted: Font: (Default) LinotypeAroma-Light, 10.5

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