Breaker Morant (play)

Updated 2026-07-29

Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts is an Australian play written by Kenneth G. Ross, centred on the court-martial and the last days of Lieutenant Harry "Breaker" Morant (1864–1902) of the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC). The play was first performed at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on Thursday, 2 February 1978, by the Melbourne Theatre Company.

Background

The play dramatises the historical events surrounding the court-martial of Lieutenant Harry "Breaker" Morant, an English-born Australian horseman, bush balladist, and military officer who, along with Lieutenants Peter Handcock and George Witton, was tried by the British Army for the murder of prisoners-of-war and civilians during the Second Boer War in South Africa. Morant and Handcock were executed by firing squad on 27 February 1902. The play focuses on the legal proceedings and the political context of the case, including allegations that the accused were made scapegoats by the British command.

First Performance

The premiere production was directed and designed by John Sumner, the founding director of the Melbourne Theatre Company. The cast included:

Lieutenant Harry (Breaker) Morant — Terence Donovan
Lieutenant George Witton — Gary Day
Lieutenant Peter Handcock — John Stanton
Major James Francis Thomas — Jonathan Hardy
Lord Kitchener — Simon Chilvers
President of the Court-Martial — Barry Hill
And others in supporting roles.

Critical Reception

At the time of its premiere, the play was described as an "interesting, though under-written biographical study" (Childs, 1978). Despite this mixed assessment, the play gained significant attention and became the foundation for a major film adaptation.

Adaptation to Film

The script of Ross's play was adapted into the screenplay for Bruce Beresford's 1980 film Breaker Morant. Ross contributed considerably to the screenplay, and the film was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The film starred Edward Woodward as Morant, Jack Thompson as Major Thomas, John Waters as Captain Taylor, and Bryan Brown as Lieutenant Handcock, and went on to become a landmark of the Australian New Wave cinema.

Publication

The play was published by Edward Arnold (Melbourne) in 1979 (ISBN 0-7267-0997-2).

Themes

The play explores themes of military justice, the morality of war, the tension between following orders and individual conscience, and the question of whether Morant and his co-accused were criminals or scapegoats sacrificed by the British Empire for political expediency. It examines the concept of "superior orders" as a defence in military law and the complexities of guerrilla warfare.