The silver ferns on their costumes identify the Digger Pierrots as New Zealanders. This photo was taken in 1917, the year the company was formed by New Zealand troops on the Western Front. They entertained fellow soldiers in France for the next two years, then, as the 'Famous Diggers', toured Europe and North America before returning to New Zealand. Their shows included songs, ballet, comedy routines, marionettes and 'lightning sketches', often with military themes. The company toured throughout Australasia until 1928.
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Alexander Turnbull Library, Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association Collection
Reference:
1/2-012913-G
Photograph by Henry Armytage Sanders
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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