There was a rumour going around the sunny regional town of Orange, New South Wales. From the local cabbie whispering stories from the road to the excited rumble along the town’s main drag, the question lingering on everyone’s lips was, “What really happened while the men were away?”
It was a musing that had been lost to history, after the soldiers returned from World War II nearly 80 years ago.
Eager to uncover the absence of women in Australia’s history, esteemed producer Alexandra Burke decided it was time to rewrite the script. The result is the new eight-part SBS series While the Men are Away. Set in rural 1940s Australia, the show follows women who are suddenly handed the reins of authority for the first time due to the absence of their husbands.
“There’s a lot of Australian films about the war, but it’s nearly always about the diggers and Gallipoli,” says the show’s writer Kim Wilson. “We have very rarely had a different viewpoint into that time.”
This story is from the October 2023 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
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This story is from the October 2023 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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