Summary

Souvenir programme from the Eoan Group's performance of 'South Pacific'. In the credits, under 'Ensigns (Nurses)' the name Sylvia Boyes is listed. Sylvia joined the EOAN Group in 1966 and performed in a variety of operas. She met her future husband, Lindsay Motherwell, through the Eoan Group's production of 'South Pacific'.

Sylvia Boyes (a South African-born orphan) and Lindsay Motherwell (a Melbourne-born drummer) met in Cape Town, South Africa in 1967 through their theatre connections. They fell in love but due to apartheid laws were forced to leave South Africa to marry in London. They subsequently relocated permanently to Melbourne in 1970.

Physical Description

Inside cover features a picture of Richard Rodgers, who composed the musical, and a message from him. On the opposite page is a list of the principal actors by name 'and The Eoan Group Company'. There are also credits for the music, lyrics, directors, choreography, costumes etc. There is a foreword from the Chairman, I. Sydow. and photos and bios of Joseph S. Manca, David Bloomberg, and all the principal actors. There is a message from Eoan Group Trustees, and various photos from the performance throughout the booklet. There are also advertisements throughout the booklet. In the centrefold is a full list of the setting, period and all the characters, including the actors who played them. There is also a list of Musical Numbers, personnel and credits.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection provides a significant opportunity to represent political and personal freedom as a motivation for migrating to Australia within the international context of both apartheid in South Africa and the end of the White Australia policy in Australia. The personal narrative is well documented and the objects provide a material way to follow the lives of both Lindsay and Sylvia, both separately and where they coincide in South Africa and onwards together to Melbourne. While this is ultimately a love story, it plays out through the collection against the backdrop of apartheid South Africa, sixties London and an increasingly multicultural Australia.

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