PARRAMATTA GIRLS
Sounding like something out of a tortured Hollywood psych-thriller, it’s hard to believe that a place like the Parramatta Girls Home existed within a stone’s throw of Sydney’s living memory.
Founded in 1887 to house girls who were charged under the Child Welfare or Crimes Acts (mostly for being ‘neglected’ or ‘uncontrollable’), body searches, bullying and the administration of anti-psychotic drugs were all routine. After upwards of 30,000 wounded souls passed through, the gates finally slammed shut in 1974 – until playwright Alana Valentine pried them open in this theatrical retelling based on real testimonials, Parramatta Girls.
Director Annette Rowlison tells us, “I have always recognised that this is a script that needs a sensitive approach. It is a ‘project’ as well as a performative piece. The girls in the cast and I have worked on the premise they are ‘temporary custodians’ of the characters they are portraying, thereby entrusting them with a responsibility to tell the story truthfully and openly.”
The cast includes Indigenous performers Elaine Crombie and Kylie Coolwell, as well as six other female actors. With a female playwright and female director, it’s a refreshing all-female ensemble, perfect for redressing what was an institutionalised gender imbalance. “I think it is so important to tell this story, not only as a way to applaud the courage of the women that are represented in the play, but to also heighten awareness and make us consider our treatment of others. Sadly, these issues of mistreatment still occur today, despite changes of law and changes within our system.”
Rowlison herself draws on personal memories of the Home, “When I was young, my parents often threw a tongue-in-cheek threat to me, when I was particularly naughty, about having to go the Girls Home at Parramatta if I didn’t behave.” Even a child’s vivid imagination couldn’t prepare her for the truth she discovered when researching, “The thing that struck me was the complete lack of privacy in the Girls home. Even in the showers, there were no doors to the shower recesses, in order that the guards could keep an eye on them whilst showering. At night they had to lie in bed facing the door, so that they could be checked on throughout the night.”
There are some light moments mixed in with the dark. “I’m passionate about creating theatre that is a more than just light entertainment. That doesn’t mean that Parramatta Girls is a sombre piece – Alana has mixed in some very funny, intensely recognisable moments along with the more serious stuff. But it is definitely a play that gets you thinking.”
May 18-Jun 11, New Theatre, 542 King St, Newtown, $10-28, 1300 306 776, mca-tix.com.au
