It must have been a daunting challenge for Suzie Miller to work out how to encapsulate the story of the creation of the AFLW from the first idea in 1993 until brought to fruition in 2017. So many personalities, so many setbacks, so many unlikely triumphs.
Whatever the challenges, her efforts are now onstage under the title Strong is the New Pretty in an imaginative production for which the visuals are as striking as the words.
On entering the theatre, the audience is met by a bare stage on which sits a spotlit Sherrin Football, the significance of which is revealed as the play progresses.
Surrounding the football are banks of spotlights – designers Christina Smith (set & costumes), Paul Jackson (lighting) and Craig Wilkinson (video) have plenty of tricks up their sleeves waiting to be unleashed.
So has director Sarah Giles, who calls on every one of them. She also enlisted Kelley Abbey (Movement Director), and Brady Watkins (Sound) to bring their skills to the table to ensure the success of her imaginative staging concepts.
With a few exceptions, Miller has changed the names of the major players in her saga, but those who have followed the team will have little problem inserting the real names.
For the main part, Miller’s dialogue is declamatory, addressing the audience directly, with little emotional connection between the characters. Dates, statistics and relevant information is flashed up on screens behind the actors.
Eight actors make up the ensemble cast. There are no star parts, but between them, Lucy Bell, Edyll, Amy Hack, Amy Ingram, Amber McMahon, Tara Morice, Nyasha Ogden and Contessa Treffone, share significant characters, recreate historic moments, even matches, utilising Kelly Abbey’s resourceful movement ideas embracing puppetry, a little Broadway dance, and a dash of burlesque, together with the terrific sound design by Brady Watkins who augments Clemence Williams composing with crowd noises, breathing, chuckles and snorts to add to the immediacy of the story-telling.
The end result is an engaging, inventive and thoroughly absorbing history lesson which may have been even more entertaining had it not been so didactic and intent on being inspirational.
Strong is the New Pretty
Playhouse – Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square, Canberra
Performance: Saturday 26 September 2026
Strong is the New Pretty will play the Geelong Arts Centre from 8 – 11 October and Sydney Opera House from 22 October – 5 December 2026. For more information, visit: www.strongisthenewprettyplay.com.au for details.
Images: Strong is the New Pretty – photos by Morgan Roberts