‘Hay Fever’ by The Little Theatre, Changi P.O.W. Camp (Jan 1944)

Hay Fever

It will never be forgotten by 10,000 faded, starved, half – dead prisoners of war that John Wood at the beginning of 1944 have a performance as Judith in ‘Hay Fever’ which competent critics have hailed as worthy of any of the great actresses who ever played Coward…

Source: Unknown Author, ‘On with the Motley: The Changi Concert Party’, in Lachlan Grant (ed.), The Changi Book, Published by New South in association with the Australian War Memorial, 2015, pg. 138

Note: Willis Toogood is listed in the cast of actors. To see a caricature of him, go to ‘caricatures & portraits’ on this website.

“Daltry had been a major in an artillery unit. He was well equipped to produce Changi’s entertainment, having in the days before the war run the Westminster Theatre in London. He swooped, therefore, on long crutches upon the Playhouse and, to the astonishment of all, opened its season with Autumn Crocus – a gentle love story which the near – destroyed souls of Thailand and the aerodrome – scorched workers of Changi found thoroughly delightful. Having started his career in Singapore’s sterile gaol by staging a story of love in the cool heights of a mountain, the outrageous Daltry settled down to months of exhilarating production”.  He is mentioned in this production.
Source: The Naked Island by Russell Braddon; 1955 edition Pan Books Ltd, Pg 263