Move over Wentworth, this is women’s prison you can almost touch! wit incorporated presents the Victorian premiere of Hilary Beaton’s Outside In at Footscray’s Bluestone Church Arts Space from 20 October 2017.
wit incorporated continues its mission to place women front-and-centre for 2017, with a stellar lineup of some of Melbourne’s most exciting theatre-makers bringing you a taste of life in prison. Beaton created the story in 1982, “… to create roles for women where they are seen as the subject and not the object.”
Seven women navigate their lives and themselves inside prison, trying to manage how much the outside seeps in. As a new inmate arrives and another prepares to leave, the cracks appear in a dangerously-thin veneer of order. Hope can be a tough sentence.
Artistic Director Belinda Campbell, who also plays inmate Ginny, says nuanced, complicated roles for women continue to be a scarcity. “We are seeing some improvement,” says Campbell. “But it’s still a battle to find stories where women are presented as protagonists, with complete and complex lives. This play definitely hits the mark.”
Hilary Beaton is an award winning playwright who has written for both stage and screen. She is the author of fifteen plays including Jenny and the Tennis Nut, No Strings Attached, Trading Hours, Outside In. Her plays have been performed throughout Australia and internationally in the United Kingdom, United States of America and New Zealand. In 2002, Beaton was awarded a Centenary Medal for her services to the writing community.
“Brutal, funny and at heart, a love story…. an intensely honest portrayal of seven women’s lives within the hostile world of prison.” – Playmarket
Director: Faran Martin Featuring: Belinda Campbell, Sarah Clarke, Ana Della Rocca, Ebony McGuire, Jennifer Piper, Kerry du Plessis, Andrea Solonge
Outside In
Bluestone Church Arts Space, 8A Hyde Street, Footscray
Season: 20 October – 4 November 2017 (preview: 19 October)
Information and Bookings: www.witinc.com.au
Image: Cast of Outside In (supplied)