HOTHOUSE Theatre tonight hosts the world premiere of Emily Goddard’s This Is Eden.
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Melbourne actor Goddard wrote the script, directed by Susie Dee, and said it was dark and confronting, just like life in Hobart’s infamous female convict prison Cascades Women’s Factory, where the play was set.
“The performance style itself uses a form of grotesque mockery that is designed to be confronting,” Goddard said at Monday’s launch.
“But that’s also the performance method the convicts themselves used, so it has a base in history.
“It is scary but it doesn’t work if I back away and try to not be confronting.
“It’s that dark humour where people can laugh but there’s also something sitting under the surface.
“But the reality is that was a really dark chapter in Australia’s history and it’s going to be confronting.
“Maybe the reason why we don’t know much about our convict history or we haven’t wanted to face it is because it’s confronting and it’s dark, so hopefully we can put it on stage – that’s what were endeavouring to do – in away that is entertaining but not shying away from the horror of it … it is one in a long list of very confronting chapters in Australian history.”
Goddard has been developing the script with Dee over recent weeks while in residence in Albury.
The play has been a work in progress since its inception, and Dee says up until this week they have been fine-tuning parts of the script to tell the story.
“Emily has been very open talking about the ideas,” Dee said.
“Emily is quite strong and knows what she wants to say and she is really very attached to the form and ideas but she is open to change the way it’s perceived and the relationship of the audience.
“It is always the greatest challenge – the director and performer working together and respecting each other.”
Dee has enjoyed working with Goddard to form the compelling one-person show.
“It didn’t start off with a solid script, so we actually played a lot on the floor and developed some of the ideas as we went along,” Dee said.
“It’s not a traditional process where I get a script.
“Emily had a lot of little ideas, there was no script as such, so we teased those out, It’s been a long process.
“It was a very organic process. It was not the usual classic, write the play, direct the play so I feel quite emotionally attached to the work.”
This Is Eden open tonight and runs until August 15.
For tickets or information contact the Hothouse Theatre on (02) 6021 7433.
