Queensland Theatre concludes its 2022 season with First Casualty, a high-adrenaline drama that follows four Australian soldiers stationed at a remote outpost in Afghanistan in 2011. This debut play by Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Johnston, a serving soldier and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, was initially scheduled for March 2022 but postponed due to the Omicron wave and the Brisbane floods, which inundated the theatre at that time. 

First Casualty is directed by Queensland Theatre Artistic Director Lee Lewis, who has championed the play over a number of years since first reading it as a judge of the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award in 2016. At a time when Australia’s involvement and conduct in Afghanistan over 20 years – our “longest war” – is being re-examined, First Casualty doesn’t seek to answer any questions, but to portray the everyday pressures and perils that Australian soldiers faced while deployed there.

Queensland Theatre’s First Casualty. Photo © Brett Boardman

The majority of the play’s action takes place across 48 hours at the remote Combat Outpost Mirage...