Family mystery explored

A World War 1 mystery is to be brought to life in a play by Philip Braithwaite to be premiered in Dunedin this month. Rebecca Fox talks to the playwright about the family ''myth'', which had intrigued him throughout most of his life.

A whispered family story heard as a child intrigued Philip Braithwaite so much he could not turn down an opportunity to write about it.

The Wellington playwright jumped at the opportunity to write about the family secret of his great uncle Jack Braithwaite's World War 1 experiences when approached by the Fortune Theatre.

''I couldn't believe my luck when Philip Braithwaite revealed his fascinating family history and that he was planning to write about it. We acted immediately to secure funding to commission him to write the first draft,'' Fortune artistic director Lara Macgregor said.

The result of that work, The War Play, opens next week.

For Mr Braithwaite, the WW1 centenary celebrations were the perfect opportunity to dig deeper into his family's story.

''It's been a real bone of contention in our family. Some talked about it, some didn't. It had become like a myth of our family.''

Despite this, Mr Braithwaite had not had any objections from the family to his telling the story.

''[There was a] bit of interest from some cousins I didn't know I had who are excited about it.''

He became more interested in the story at university when Prime Minister Helen Clark issued a pardon to those men who ''got up to mischief'' during the war.

''He [Jack ] was one of them.''

Her pardon was not really adequate, he said, so that spurred him on to do more research about the man.

''It's one of those tragic miscarriage of justice stories.''

It began when Jack was sent to war and, while he tried his best, rising to the rank of lance corporal, he was not a good soldier.

''Then he went off the rails and was sent to military prison in France. While there he got himself into a situation which was described as mutiny and was executed for it.''

Finding Jack's story was not difficult as it was pet project of historian Ian McGibbon in Wellington, who recently retired from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

What turned out to be difficult was the telling of the story, which at first glance seemed a simple one, he said.

''As I began to map out his journey, here was this guy in Dunedin, a journalist, like you, who wanted to stay that way, but went to war. He behaved well and then he behaved badly and then he behaved well. It goes up and down. It was a difficult one to chart.''

Added to the difficulty was his decision halfway through writing the play to do a ''radical revision'' and introduce a contemporary framework for the play.

''It changed a lot. The reason I did that was Jack's story and his death is only half the story. Then there is what happened to his family and the impact this had on them.''

Aside from the satisfaction of writing the play, it had been an interesting journey that had become slightly strange since seeing the actors bring his characters to life on the stage.

''Watching people play members of my family, it was a strange dynamic I hadn't seen before.''

There was a character in the play with Mr Braithwaite's name but he had not seen those scenes acted.

''But it's working, which is good.''

Having the play produced in Dunedin was special to him as that was where Jack's generation lived and his dad was from Dunedin, although Mr Braithwaite grew up in the Hawkes Bay and went to university in Palmerston North.

''He's very nostalgic for his childhood. I met my grandfather. My grandfather was Jack's brother. It doesn't seem that far away. How close this really is, it's still happening in the family.''

He admits to feeling a bit nervous about how the family will react when the work opens.

''The story belongs to more than just me and I don't want to disappoint anybody, but at the same time you can't let that get in the way of the story you want to tell.''

The work was funded by The Lottery World War One Commemorations, Environment and Heritage Committee.