Tactical agency in war work: ‘Anzac Ada’ Reeve, ‘the Soldiers’ Friend’

During World War 1 British stars of theatre and musical hall used their ‘pulling power’ to work as self-appointed charity organisers and recruitment campaigners to help justify the entertainment industry’s existence during war time. Typically these stars aimed to secure record sums of fundraising revenue and recruits. Ada Reeve (1874-1966), a star of music hall, pantomime, musical comedy and revue, entertained soldiers in camps and hospitals in Britain, Egypt, India, Australia and New Zealand. In 1917-18 while touring Australia and New Zealand she used her cachet as a star performer to directly appeal to audiences to donate funds for the Anzac Club and Buffet for Australian and New Zealand soldiers on leave in London. This article examines how Reeve’s specific choice of philanthropic work on and off the theatre stage, fundraising which saved the almost insolvent Anzac Club and Buffet, differentiated her from her counterparts and earned her the accolade of “Anzac Ada.” Her choice of philanthropy strategically worked to augment her identity as a transnational popular theatre star to create a personality that was proclaimed through shared community values and practices, and reframed her as an imperial star and “the soldiers’ friend.: Martina Lipton has published several articles in Australasian Drama Studies, Contemporary Theatre Review, and New Theatre Quarterly on pantomime and early-20th century popular theatre entertainers