This Is Eden review

While waiting in the foyer for This Is Eden to begin, a young woman in a bonnet and dress appears. Her name is Jane (Emily Goddard), a Female Convict Heritage Tour Guide, who provides us with a brief but entertaining overview on the history of female convicts. Jane is wide-eyed and enthusiastically explains how most women convicts who were sent to the Cascades Female Factory in Hobart were non-violent criminals, and we all laugh as she fumbles with putting on a spiked iron collar that women convicts often wore; it's easier to discount the tales of atrocity experienced this way.

Devised by Goddard and Susie Dee, This Is Eden is more than just a story about Australia's convict history. It is also about the treatment of Indigenous people throughout time and our treatment of asylum seekers today. Through the show, it is clear we have yet to learn from our mistakes and like Jane, we seem to be more upset over failed relationships than we do by sending people to certain death.

Once ushered to our seats, Jane hopes we enjoy the show and as she leaves, we are enveloped by silence and darkness. Moments later, Goddard reappears on stage, unrecognisable this time as convict Mary Ford. Her wild hair and near deranged demeanour is unsettling yet captivating as she shares the stories of her captors.

SHIT review

Nicci Wilks, Peta Brady and Sarah Ward
Photo by Sebastian Bourges

I'm going to hazard a guess and say that Patricia Cornelius' SHIT would be the theatrical equivalent of The Wolf of Wall Street, in holding the record for the most amount of expletives used. Beyond this, SHIT is raw, compelling and honest in its portrayal of not only three women who are on the outs of society, but how women who subvert societal expectations are treated and seen. And it is fucking brilliant.

The three women, Billy, Sam and Bobby (Nicci Wilks, Peta Brady and Sarah Ward) have grown up together living in and out of residential care units. They really are shit people and if the opening conversation between them isn't enough to convince you with its barrage of swearing and aggression, then stick around, as there's plenty to come. The idea that they have lost their womanhood because of their behaviours and appearance is explored throughout SHIT. It's no coincidence that Cornelius has branded them with traditionally male-gendered names and the point is driven home when one of the characters begins to refer to women as "them", leading to one of - if not the most - powerful scene of the night.