the lee letter
As a political culture New Zealand has extraordinary political stories of its own to tell, but we tend to defer to northern hemisphere storytellers, as if their political narratives are more interesting, important and scandalous than our own.
While writing her book PROMISES PROMISES: 80 YEARS OF WOOING NEW ZEALAND VOTERS in 2018, Claire learned of the tumultuous contest for ideological and political ascendancy that took place between the New Zealand Labour Party’s first ‘rockstar’ leader, Michael Joseph (Joe) Savage, and his ‘frenemy’, popular socialist MP John A (Jack) Lee during the years 1935-1940. Once sharing a radical utopian vision for New Zealand, both men eventually destroyed each other’s political careers before either could realise that vision. Claire thought this would make for great drama, and so after her book was published she set about working the conflict into a play, which she completed during New Zealand’s first COVID lockdown in April 2020.
THE LEE LETTER had its first reading at Circa Theatre in the Wellington Fringe Festival in March 2021, directed by Ross Jolly.
Image: Xoë Hall
