AustLit

One of several entertainment troupes to form out of various Anzac battalions during World War I, the Smart Set Diggers was formed by Charles Holt in Europe at the end of 1916. Over the next two years they presented more than a thousand concerts along the battle-lines, and after the war presented concerts in France and Brussels before undertaking a ten month tour of Great Britain. The all-male troupe first came to Australia in 1920 on a contract with J. and N. Tait, and later played the Fullers Theatres circuit for several years.The troupe is believed to have disbanded briefly around 1922/23.

In 1925 following a brief engagement on Harry Clay's Sydney circuit the re-organised Smart Set Diggers undertook an extended Queensland tour before taking the show through the East. Back in Australia in 1926 the troupe were featured in several radio broadcasts. While no details regarding their movements over the next few years have yet been located the troupe is recorded as having played a long season in Sydney in 1929 before heading to Perth where it played over the 1929/1930 summer.

The artists most associated with the Smart Set Digger's were female impersonators Charles Holt (also director/producer), 'Tiki' Carpenter and Fred Whitlow. By the mid-to-late 1920s the troupe also comprised several (real) female performers, along with an all-female chorus.

[Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive]