Late in 2007, Dramatix wanted to perform TJ Ramsays' award winning Memento Mori, a one-act musical drama based on a young WW1 couple. TJ decided to team 'Memento' with another play she had written called Sirens - images of WW2. 'Someone' suggested ewe perform these plays during ANZAC weekend 2008. GREAT IDEA! Then 'someone' said, 'lets set-up displays and such as you go into the Theatre as a sort of 'pre-entertainment' ANOTHER GREAT IDEA, then someone else offered some cars and guns as displays, and we thought 'lets get stories from people of their war experiences' This one was the clincher, the stories - and ideas poured in and Lest we Forget- the 2 day ANZAC event was born...
Because we believe that War touches us all - it still does - and ANZAC Day is the one day of the year when New Zealanders feel a unity and togetherness we rarely achieve at any other time of the year.
ANZAC commemorations transcend all our differences and we wanted to celebrate this during our LEST WE FORGET events with a focus on community, not just Nelson, not just Richmond or Motueka but ALL of Nelson Bays.
So for two days around ANZAC Day each year, the Dramatix Theatre Development Trust takes over Nelson's Founders Heritage Park with a range of events, entertainments, re-enactments, displays, musical and theatre performances all designed to introduce many aspects of wartime and highlight as many emotional levels as we can.
We do this with the assistance of a wide range of community groups, societies and some very special individuals.
Imagine – a working field hospital, trenches, bombs and air-raid warnings, truckloads of wounded soldiers, street battles, Dad’s Army and Cafe Rene come to life…music, theatre, re-enactments, the sights sounds and stories of war - and the list goes on.
One of the most important aspects, and the seed that the entire 'Lest We Forget' event grew from, are our 'Walls of Remembrance'.
These are the stories we've gathered of local people, their family histories, of men, women and children - as evacuees, prisoners of War, civilians, resistance fighters, pilots, soldiers, sailors.....
Interesting, often heartbreaking, always inspiring stories - true stories - told by our people.
And each year as Lest we Forget closes, new stories emerge of how the event has healed, touched, educated and sometimes annoyed the thousands of visitors who walk through the Founders Park gates and into War.
It is the most extraordinary event and means something different to each and every person who visits, gets involved or supports it.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM!
To be involved, to find out more, to share a story for the 'Walls of Remembrance' contact us here - Lest We Forget Information