The Famous Diggers | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories

Photo courtesy of Fryer Library from Brisbane Courier (9 April 1920)

The Famous Diggers The Famous Diggers (A103436 works by) (Organisation) assertion (a.k.a. Pat Hanna's Diggers; The Famous Digger Pierrots; The Vice Regals; New Zealand Digger Pierrots)

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BiographyHistory

Variety troupe.

Comprising largely returned soldiers, The Famous Diggers (aka Pat Hanna's Diggers) toured Australia and New Zealand constantly between 1919 and the early 1930s, presenting variety entertainment that focused largely on themes relating to the Great War.

The troupe was first formed in Cologne after the Armistice, when Hanna was appointed as recreational and entertainment officer for the New Zealand army division serving in Germany as part of the occupying force. Under his leadership, the Diggers Concert Party performed at camps first in Germany, including a Royal Command performance for the Prince of Wales in Cologne, and later France, England, and North America, before making its way to New Zealand (1919) and Australia (1920). A report in the Brisbane Courier's 'Music and Drama' column records that 'The members of the Digger Pierrots comprise 20 performers [and orchestra] ... The clever company had the honour of giving a command performance before Field-Marshall Sir Douglas Haig. In London the Pierrots appeared at the Victoria Palace for four weeks, and at the Aldwych Theatre for three weeks, and they have just terminated a 12 months' tour of New Zealand' (3 April 1920, p.12).

Originally called The Famous Digger Pierrots, the troupe arrived in Australia on a twelve-week contract with J. C. Williamson's Ltd. When the contract ended, Hanna took over the company's management himself, although often in association with established circuits run by theatrical entrepreneurs such as E. J. Carroll. Hanna (who billed himself as G. P. Hanna) initially focused much of the entertainment on war-related themes, describing the troupe in advertising as 'a talented band of clever warrior artists, picked from Australian and New Zealand forces'. The all-male ensemble concept had its limitations, however, and thus Hanna soon augmented it with female performers. The first of these are believed to have been Ethel Hartley and Clarice Norman. From 1922 onwards, the troupe included Hanna's wife Jessie (nee Meadows) and her sister Hilda Meadows, who presented a musical sister act. Hanna and Meadows married on 8 April 1922 in St Kilda, Melbourne. A number of other female performers were also engaged as performers in the troupe, notably Iza and Moya Crossley, Rozette Powell, and Floe Dean. Among the male members over the years were several high-profile performers, including Englishman Bert Gilbert, Joe Valli, and Les Coney.

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1. THE DIGGERS' ENTERTAINMENT:
1. With their shows invariably described along the lines of 'rollicking foolery, odd nonsense and novel interludes' (Brisbane Courier 19 April 1926, p.10), the Famous Diggers essentially offered a theme-based vaudeville show. In addition to their featured soldier sketches, the troupe presented traditional variety entertainments such as songs, ballets, comedy routines, and specialty acts (including, for example, marionettes and Pat Hanna's lightening sketch drawing). Over the years, the troupe also presented a repertoire of music-based pieces ranging from society sketches (contemporary or old fashioned) to exotic scenes (Hawaiian or Maori, for example) and from burlesques to scenes from well-known operas. Among the troupe's repertoire in 1924, for example, were 'Camouflage,' in which 'an ugly duckling by the aid of pretty things wins back a straying husband'; 'A New War,' with Hanna and Bert Gilbert having a fearful time after consuming too much crab; 'A Woman's Trade,' 'which proves to the hilt the superiority of the wit of the weaker sex over that of the dullard male; and 'In Vauxhill Gardens,' a 'tres chic' ballet described as an old-world interlude with crinolines and poke bonnets (Truth 14 September 1924, p.6).
Although the troupe's military sketches were usually the last item or items on the programme, Hanna occasionally presented them as the conclusion to the first part. During the week of 20-26 December 1923 (Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane), for example, the troupe closed the shows with scenes from Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Dickensian character actor Clement May featured as Ebenezer Scrooge.

1.2. Dickensian sketches or scenas were a particular Diggers favourite. Such pieces included 'Dan'l Peggotty,' interpreted by Will Crawford (Nov. 1921), and 'Fezziwig's Ball,' narrated by Clifton Binks (Dec. 1921).

1.3. One of the troupe's repeatedly mentioned strengths was the ability of its singers to perform all genres of song, from contemporary popular and jazz numbers to classical and operatic arias. The Brisbane Courier records in 1926, for example, 'An unusual feature of the Diggers company is the remarkably strong vocal talent that it possesses in Vera Carew [soprano], Iza Crossley, Hilda Meadows, Jim Foran [tenor] and Jock Thompson. One of the outstanding successes of the evening was Miss Carew's rendering of Gounod's "Ava Maria"' (22 May 1926, p.15). The troupe also sometimes featured musical numbers that were either traditional Maori songs or at least Maori-inspired. One such number was 'Waiata Maori,' possibly first staged in Australia at the Esplanade, Melbourne, on 24 November 1921.
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2. SKETCH REPERTOIRE:
2.1. One of Hanna's principal contributors, John A. Marks (aka Johnny Marks), was a member of the troupe between ca. 1921 and 1923. The Pat Hanna Collection (PACM) contains a copyright agreement signed by Marks in Perth on 4 July 1923 allowing G. P. Hanna the rights to produce the following works: The New War, History Repeats Itself, Quartermaster's Stores, Demobilisation, Leave Train, Leave Boat, Bombs, What Do We Say?, Rum Doings, Chic and Bert at the Party, The New C. O., Wangles, Some System, The Treasure, Aeronautics, The Minced Spy, Business by Phone, and Two-Chinned Chow.

2.2. Three letters from the Copyright Office (dated 8 October 1925) indicate that Hanna was now the registered owner of Bombs, Louis XI, and The Quartermaster's Stores (Pat Hanna Collection, PACM).

2.3. A sketch entitled Business is Business and identified as the property of James B. Atholwood (His Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne) is held in the Pat Hanna Collection (PACM). Set in New York during a 'base ball series,' the sketch is written in an exercise book. It is unclear if Atholwood, a prominent and highly regarded Australian actor, is the author of this work and if it was ever staged by Hanna and/or the Famous Diggers.

2.4. One feature of the Famous Diggers entertainment was the topical marionette sketch, which for many years starred Pat Hanna and Bert Gilbert. A manuscript containing 'Mr Gallagher and Mr Sheen' verses (see 'Diggers Entertainment' section below) is held in the Pat Hanna Collection (PACM).

2.5. Clifton Binks claims in the 5 May 1921 edition of the Illustrated Tasmanian Mail that the company's repertoire comprises at least '27 complete changes of program' (n. pag.).
2.6. While in-depth coverage of the Diggers' performances during the company's decade or more of association with Australia is typically rare, some insight into the troupe's appeal can nevertheless be ascertained from some published reviews. Reporting on the 1920-21 Arcadia Theatre (St Kilda) season, a Table Talk critic writes, for example, 'Why [do] the entertainments of the Famous Diggers draw such large and appreciative audiences. The answer is to be found in the fact that their programmes are a little bit out of the ordinary. That they are real returned soldiers is an attraction to most but apart from that each member of the company is, in his or her way, a capable artist and the programme is punctuated with novelties' (30 December 1920, p.32). Within three months of returning to the Melbourne beach-side suburb (October 1921-March 1922), Hanna announced that the troupe had played to some 42,000 people during that season alone (Argus 14 January 1922, p.28).
During the troupe's eighteen-month season in Brisbane (1923-1925), one critic similarly reported, 'There is never a flop in the high level of the Diggers' entertainment... something novel pops out of Pat Hanna's brain-box every week' (Truth 14 September 1924, p.6), while an Argus review of the following year's Melbourne season wrote, 'It is nearly seven years since the last shot was fired in the war, but the same spirit pervades the company as formerly. To vary the lines of Henry Lawson, they are at their best in the jokes with which "the diggers greeted diggers long ago". Their best effort was their last - Chic and Joe in Hospital. It is a Blighty scene in which the spirit of the Aussie soldier permeates the whole atmosphere' (7 September 1925, p.14). Extracts from a selection of reviews published during the 1920s further record:
'For three hours they occupied the boards, with merry jest, dance, pathetic song and scene, and a weird mixture of all at times. Opening with an orchestral barrage under the direction of Miss Mena Raymond the company went smoothly through over 20 items' (Brisbane Courier 17 November 1923, p.10).
'The programme was opened by the full company refusing in concerted song to sing an "Opening Chorus"' (Brisbane Courier 1 December 1923, p.11).
2.7. The following sketches are known to have been staged by Pat Hanna's Diggers but have not yet been given an individual entry in AustLit due to lack of information concerning storyline, subject matter, and/or authorship. The list is organised in alphabetical clusters and with dates entered by month and year only. Venue location can be ascertained by cross-referencing this data with the Engagements Chronology (below). Production dates cited from the Argus and Age (Melbourne), Brisbane Courier and Truth (Brisbane), and Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney). If authorship details have been established, this information is entered in {brackets} immediately after the title. Entries followed by an asterisk (*) have been identified in the Pat Hanna Collection, Performing Arts Centre (Melbourne). No scripts and/or production and authorship details have yet been located, however.
This entry has been sourced from research undertaken by Dr Clay Djubal into Australian-written popular music theatre (ca. 1850-1930). See also the Australian Variety Theatre Archive
Additional information has been sourced from research undertaken by Professor Richard Fotheringham.

Last amended 29 May 2019 12:18:41

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