About the Playwright John Misto was born in Australia in 1952 and trained as a lawyer before becoming a writer. Before writing the play, Misto was inspired by Betty Jeffries book White Coolies. She was a member of the Australian Army Nurses and had survived captivity as a prisoner of war in Sumatra and Malaya. Misto states that he did not have the power to build a memorial so he built a play instead.