FOR A MOTHERS LOVE - PLAY READING & SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Welcome to the first public reading of a new theatre work based on the stories of mothers who suffered at the hands of men who used violence and had their children forcibly taken from them as a result.

You are invited to the reading of this play by professional actors and to take part in the discussion with the playwright & team afterwards.

Playwright Jami Bladel and New Story Company have been working for the last 13 months with Bridgewater’s tagari lia Child & Family Learning Centre and a group of mothers & grandmothers with lived experience of domestic violence. As a result of experiencing violence from abusive partners, these women have suffered the added trauma of the State Child Safety system taking their children from them, often placing them with complete strangers. There is no system of support for these women, who often become homeless and lose their income because of their life threatening situations.

Through heartfelt storytelling, humour, songs and music, this play tells the stories of vulnerable people that up to now haven’t been heard. It’s a story asking for justice, long overdue recognition and social change.

This is a story about the terrible things that could happen to any woman under particular circumstances. It is a play with heart that asks us to question - why do children have to be removed from the non-violent parent? Who is looking after mothers in the Child Safety System?

ABS data[1] shows that:

One in six women have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner since the age of 15. This figure increases to nearly one in four women when violence by boyfriends, girlfriends and dates is included.
One in six women have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner.
One in four Australian women has experienced emotional abuse from a current or former partner.

COMING SOON – THE 7030 WOMENS THEATRE GROUP

As a result of the 13 month process of creating this play, the 7030 Women’s Theatre Group is being formed. Named after the Brighton area postcode, this group will be a vehicle for the development of storytelling and theatre skills that promote literacy, self-advocacy and health & wellbeing.

TRIGGER WARNING - NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN. SOME AUDIENCE MEMBERS MAY FIND SOME MATERIAL DISTURBING.

[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, Personal Safety, cat. no. 4906.0, www.abs.gov.au/aussstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4906.0/