Belconnen Arts Centre
Sat 25th April 5:00pm, Sun 26th April 5:00pm
Rugby League Remembrance

Conscription, class war, and Rugby League.  Live music, archival footage, and documentary film combine in The Dirty Red Digger: The story of World War I in Australia through events in Rugby League between 1914 and 1918.  From the working class tenements in ‘Dirty Red’ Glebe, the divisive Prime Minister Billy Hughes, and the traitor/hero status of boxer Les Darcy, this special multimedia event explores the battle for Australian identity and the Anzac legacy.  Comparing the stories of young men in the trenches with young men today, this is a special event not to be missed.

The Dirty Red Digger is a groundbreaking collaboration that sees Rugby League communities collaborate with art music, exploring the struggle for Australian identity during World War 1, and the challenges of young men today and a hundred years ago.  The program features music that we know was played during WW1 in Australia, and Australian music that has been written since.  With over 40 minutes of archival footage and a series of interviews with young men and women, this will be premiered in Canberra and then tour nationally.

It is with regret that I forward the following: Two months ago, I picked up an old Rugby League membership ticket, with the name R. Tidyman on it. Nearby we discovered the body of one of our boys. There was nothing else to help in identification, so we buried him and marked the spot. Sunday Times, 4 April 1917

For tickets and memberships, click here

Belconnen Arts Centre
118 Emu Bank,
Belconnen ACT 2617