New Songs from the Prison without Walls
Theatre
Royal Hobart
by Gai
Anderson
There is
so much to like about this show. It's rich entertainment on so many
levels, and the sold out crowd was lapping it up at its premiere at
the first DARK MOFO Festival in Hobart on Friday night.
 |
| Image courtesy of MOFO programme |
The
talented and prolific Thomas brothers, Steve of Roar Film in Hobart
and Mick, of Weddings Parties Anything fame, have outdone
themselves in bringing us this dramatized song cycle of eighteen
powerful Tasmanian tales. It is based on real stories from Founders
and Survivors Storylines, a comprehensive multi-media website
created by Steve Thomas. The website tells the story of the making of
Australia based on the world heritage listed convict records of
Tasmania. Everyone should check it out. It is beautiful, mind-blowing
in scope and versions of the songs are there to listen to.
The
tales Mick has chosen to turn into song take a particular tack. It
explores a largely unknown aspect of the early colony history, where
the convict stain was so great that Victoria passed a law forbidding
these Vandemonian Lags to run away from their dark past in
Tasmania to the promise of a new life even if they had been freed.
And yet, as Australia goes to WW1 not 50 years later for king and
country, more than 50% of those soldiers are the direct descendants
of convicts.
