Dead Reckoning is a play in two acts. It revolves around the aspirations of Al Spencer, a fictitious former Australian politician turned businessman, to make a fortune in Asia. During his political career based in northern Australia, he championed the cause of close ties between Australia and Asia. But as his business venture – a boutique hotel in the southern Philippines – nears completion, problems threaten his dream and undermine his faith in Asian investment. These problems expose in Al Spencer an element of latent racism, a failure to come to terms with Asian points of view, a touch of misogyny, and a distrust of ‘friends’ he had sought to use in promotion of his venture.

The play brings together issues as diverse as the fall of leaders and their ‘cronies’ (who are also cronies to Australian & international business), and Australia’s ultimate sanction against illegal immigration – the seizing and the burning of boats caught fishing in Australian waters or carrying ‘illegal’ immigrants.

In Act One, as Al Spencer prepares for the grand opening of his hotel in a small provincial city in the Philippines, he comes face to face with political change in Asia (including the election defeat of his patron and ‘crony’), and the realities of his personal relationships. These include a journalist and former lover, who puts a ‘story’ (about Spencer’s own troubles!) ahead of their friendship.

In Act Two, the plot aims to prove the premise through the experience of Spencer, whose personal investment in the Philippines appears jeopardised by a ‘message’ he sent as a politician. (As an assistant Minister, he had signed off on the burning of a ‘trespassing’ Asian boat). There is some rapprochement between Spencer and the boat’s owner (now the mayor of the town in which his hotel is situated). However, he dies wondering whether his likely financial ruin was the consequence of his previous domestically-popular ‘message’, in support of the burning of a boat found to have carried illegal immigrants to Australia.

The play deals with the idea that Australia and Australians must be careful about the type of political ‘messages’ sent abroad, particularly to Asia. They may be perceived as politically popular at home, but seen quite differently overseas. It could be taken as an analogy for much wider issues. For example, it could have relevance to the long-term implications of Australia’s military co-operation with Indonesia, or Australia’s original acceptance of Indonesia’s annexation of East Timor.

The play requires five actors to play seven characters.

Buy the play at: http://www.amazon.com/David-Balderstone/e/B0064I1QQE