Sharon MowlaiENGLISH Shoe-Horn Sonata

The distinctively visual positions the responder to gain knowledge about past events and personalities. The recurring themes of sacrifice, determination and resilience are encapsulated throughout John Misto’s play, The Shoe-horn Sonata are conveyed through this use of the distinctively visual. This play documents the experiences of two female prisoners of war (POW) who are reunited many years later. This text transports the viewer to another place and time to experience the hardships, pain and suffering that the POW endured and overcame. The Shoe-horn Sonata, uses a range of distinctively visual techniques to provide the responder with a detailed and empathetic insight into the experience of a POW, and to emphasise how these experiences are one that we can move on from, but should never forget.

This text transports the viewer to another place and time to experience the hardships, pain and suffering that the POW endured and overcame.In scene four, John Misto transports the viewer to a time of sacrifice for both Bridie and Sheila, the prisoners of war. After Bridie and Sheila stitch a pin in Lipstick Larry’s loincloth, sound effects allow the viewer to visualise the beating of Bridie. This is also evident through the use of stage directions: “Another savage yell from Lipstick Larry, followed by the ugly thumps of Young Bridie being punched and hit”. Misto not only allows us to visualise imagine this scene in a distinctive way but confronts the viewer with Bridie and Sheila’s suffering. This suffering is juxtaposed with the black humour Bridie and Sheila are displaying in the present, showing that they sacrificed their own wellbeing in the camp to find joy and a bit of rebellion. This black humour is a coping mechanism for both Bridie and Sheila to survive being POW. We are shown how circumstances of trauma and suffering are overcome through sacrifice.


Likewise, symbolism through props can also educate the responder about past events and experiences. Start from here:Sharing a chop-bone they nicknamed “Old Reliable” and the choir they formed using the shoe-horn as a metronome emphasises the female POW resilience towards the hardships and suffering throughout their captivity. The viewer is faced with the reality of how these women dealt with the horrors of their imprisonment through the use the distinctively visual. Sheila states that we “chew on this (chop-bone) every night before bed” talking about “imaginary dinner parties… Swap recipes… Plan menus”. Through this dialogue and the stage directions stating how this was delivered:“nostalgically” and “fondly” it is symbolic of the hope, determination and resilience the women shared with each other – and now with their audience. Misto, through the music “Bolero… faintly in the background”, portrays the women forming a choir being triumphant at having accomplished something that couldn’t be taken away from them. Therefore, acting as a temporary escape of being POW because “fifty voices set them free”. Bridie also adds to Sheila’s recount of forgetting their trauma with “fifty voices and a shoe-horn”, a symbolic gesture that is synonymous of her survival. Stage direction and dialogue highlights the importance of the shoe-horn for the female POW, but more so as an integral part of Bridie and Sheila’s survival. As the responder experiences the reconstructions of the past it is evident that the metronome for Bridie was a significant prop both in the past and present as she “Taps her imaginary shoe-horn”.
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Similarly, it is evident in scene seven through dialogue and props that the determination to survive was a priority. Bridie and Sheila recount when they would “pop that caramel into our mouths – for one minute of bliss – then we’d store it away till the next week”. The caramel was their “only luxury” and “it had to last till the end of the war”, a period of three years. A year that caramel survived, in which no matter how tempted the two women were to consume the whole caramel, they did not falter until 1943. This positions the viewer to empathise with the two women as they struggled to keep that caramel. Thus, displaying the amount of self-control and will power the women endured in the face of adversity and trauma.

Shoe Horn Sonata – The Horror of War

> Notes:

–  Act 1, Scene 8 → Lipstick Larry → Dialogue

–  Page 68 → emaciated men [“we were thinner than that”] → projected image and dialogue

–  Page 42 → humiliation [they were watched by the soldiers when they went to the bathroom] → dialogue

–  Page 41 → [“the sounds of machine gun fire and the cries of women in the sound track”] → sound effects

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In the Shoe Horn Sonata, John Misto conveys, the heavy and multi-facited experiences and traumas of war, that precede the responder's time, are conveyed through the distinctively visual. Through the use of various techniques, an insight to the horrors of war experienced by the silenced female prisoners are effectively conveyed. The projected image of the “emaciated” men, explicitly displays the tribulations that these prisoners of war had to endure for a great deal of time. Then Misto uses dialogue, “we were thinner than that”(Bridie , to positions the reader to empathise with the women that suffered these brutal and barbaric conditions. The image is left projected on the screen for most of the scene, this forces the responder to contemplate, and reflect of what life must have been like for a prisoner of the Japanese during this horrific war. The sound effects of machine gun fire and the cries of women, provokes inner turmoil as we feel outrage and anger. The shock of this merciless and heartless act manifests within the responder, and we start to gain some knowledge as to what savage and inhuman acts occur during war, and the effects these acts had on innocent women and children.

Furthermore, Misto uses dialogue to educate the responder on the humiliation that the women and children endured during their time in the POW camp. On page 42, [Sheila] “the toilets were the worst part. Filthy pits – dug out in the open. We weren't allowed privacy.” [Bridie] “you had to squat – in front if everyone – even the guards. And they'd always watch. They wanted to humiliate us,” this dialogue demonstrates the humiliation, embarrassment and the degradation of these women. We are starting to gain the unthinkable experiences of these women and the horror they had to experience. Additionally, Sheila's humiliation and suffering is highlighted in act one, scene eight, where she tells Bridie the real truth of how she retrieved the quinine tablets. During this scene the audience sympathises with Sheila, and begins to understand the effect of this one event, and how it has changed her life forever. We are faced with the suffering and the trauma of young Sheila and the present Sheila, with this horrifying occurrence stained in her mind, and shadowing her life forever. The horror of war is effectively conveyed throughout this play. The Shoe Horn Sonata transports us back into an unknown time, where humiliation, suffering and disparity are all a regular and common occurrence for female prisoners of war.

By: Olivia Schlede, James Robinson, Samuel Pagano and Elizabeth Gow

ABUSE OF POWER – SHOE HORN SONATA

The distinctively visual allows the responder to enter a world of despair and vulnerability. Through dialogue the viewer is able to share a traumatic experience with Sheila, by reliving the night the Japanese had taken advantage of her. It is through this quote “they saw me, and they dragged me back,” that the viewer is positioned to visualise Sheila's helplessness and sacrifice to save her dear friend. This allows the audience to acknowledge the Japanese authorities exploiting the prisoners and the severity of their actions. The British and Australian government's neglect for the women prisoners of war is demonstrated through the message sent to the Japanese. Through irony, they reveal their ignorance as they are oblivious to the pain and suffering these nurses endure as they are ordered to “Just keep smiling”. This emphasises how the government turned their back on the women prisoners of war, hence mistreating their influence. Therefore, the responder is able to empathise and gain knowledge about these women and imagine the pain and suffering caused by the abuse of power.

Technique / Example / Effect
Anecdote
Irony / “Just keep smiling” / Shows how oblivious the Governments are
Dialogue / “They saw me and they dragged me back” / Demonstrates Sheila's helplessness and sacrifice and the severity of the Japanese' actions
Stage Directions / Bridie stares at Sheila in shock. The noise of crickets ceases.

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. In an effort to create authenticity of the event, in which Sheila offers herself up to the Japanese as a sacrifice for quinine. The sound effects of crickets are distant at first, and gradually grow louder as the scene continues further reinforcing the idea of realism and authenticity. The sound track of young Sheila begging the Japanese highlights the sacrifice Sheila made for Bridie and how it has affected her life post war. The dialogue of Sheila 'every night when I fall asleep, Lipstick Larry's waiting' emphasises the effect of her sacrifice and its emotional effects on Sheila. Not only was Sheila affected by the prisoner of war camp, Bridie also displays the anxieties of post war. The stage directions 'Defensively' and the dialogue 'just hearing the language was enough to do it. I couldn't breath- and I.... started to shake' further expresses the significance of the long term effects of war. Therefore these examples highlight the importance of the long term effects of war.

Friendship- Shoe horn sonata

The distinctively visual techniques within the shoe horn sonata allows the responder to witness the strong relationship between Bridie and Sheila have and share the emotions they experience. With the use of various techniques Misto has entitled the reader to partake in these feelings and moments of Bridie and Sheila. The music of the Blue Danube is a symbol of Bridie and Sheilas friendship and highlights their determination and resilience as they can put aside their differences and finish the dance they were unable to complete when they were imprisioned.

Furthermore the lighting demonstrates their ability to overcome the hardship and tragedy to reconcile with one another. As the music slowly plays and they dance, the spotlight that used to shine them separately in scene 8 reveals them together as it fades to black.. The spotlight is then centred in the middle which therefore symbolises the friendship and reconciliation between the two women

By Matt. Shirley Shannon and Oately