Fallenis set to open in Sydney this April. What’s the play about?
It’s set in 1848 in a home established by Charles Dickens to reform ‘fallen’ women from the streets and give them a second chance at life in the colonies of Australia. This play is not about Charles Dickens, not naturalistic and is not a factual retelling of this history. It can’t be, as history has never allowed these women to pen their own stories or experiences. It is instead an imagining of what the lives, stories, desires and relationships were like for those forgotten women who spent time in this experimental institution.
What is the key challenge in making an historical play relevant to audiences today?
Ensuring that our audience is as diverse as the bus that takes me to rehearsal every day. If I want Australians to understand how this historical play has relevance to the society we are living in today then I need to make sure that all Australians, and all people living here, feel represented and reflected on the stage. That doesn’t just stop with casting diversely, it means listening to all the voices in the room, taking on their feedback and striving to create a safe space for everyone in the room to interrogate the rules and structure we are operating in, so that the production we create is a sum of us – across classes, cultures, ages, experiences, sexualities, politics and abilities.
Does Fallen aim to convey a sense of how difficult it was for women starting a new life in Australia in colonial times?
Yes, and if we’ve done our job right, Fallen should convey a sense of how difficult it is for women living everywhere, in 1848 London and 2017 Sydney and every place and time in between. It should show the strength and power that is created when women believe in women and form a community, a safe sisterhood. But it should also demonstrate how difficult and destabilising it is to break out of the rules, structure, history and grasp of the patriarchy.
What was your first impression upon reading Seanna van Helten’s text?
Thank you, Seanna.
[Fallen photo by Sarah Walker]
Fallen runsThursday April 6 – Saturday April 22 atSeymour Centre.
