Two Blue Cherries

A biographical installation piece of theatre, supported by the National Trust of Western Australia. This performance season is part of a pilot program for on-going heritage and conservation activities at 24 Jarrad Street, the home of John and Elsie Curtin.

John and Elsie Curtin interrupt a dinner for 8-12 guests held in-situ at the Curtin Residence, in Cottesloe, Perth. The interruption takes the form of a 20-30 minute performance where John and Elsie reminisce about their life and times at Jarrad Street.

John Curtin was Australiaʼs Prime Minister from 1941 until his death in 1945. Across the political spectrum, Curtin is regarded as one of Australiaʼs finest prime ministers. He is the only Prime Minister to hold office entirely in wartime. His honesty, charm, strength of character, power of oratory and political acumen all marked him out as a great leader. Born in Creswick, Victoria in 1885, he moved to Perth in 1917 and in the same year married Elsie Needham. They settled in Cottesloe and had two children. John Curtin died in office on 5 July 1945, only weeks before the end of the war.

Elsie Curtin was Johnʼs loving wife. She was a down-to-earth and warm woman who provided much stability and an unpretentious home in the midst of Johnʼs demanding work-life. Her reaction when amused was often as unexpected as it was blunt. A colleague of Curtinʼs wrote ʻif Australia owes so much to Jack Curtin, it is indebted to her… she salvaged him when he was down and out; she made a man out of him… She was a wonderful woman.ʼ