FORGIVE ME FATHER ; I’M FAT, BLACK AND UGLY AT EAST SYDNEY COMMUNITY AND ARTS CENTRE

Whilst the much heralded Eternity Playhouse remains dark with the resident theatre company, the Darlinghurst Theatre Company going bust, there is interesting work coming out  of the East Sydney Community and Arts Centre (ESCAC). which is situated directly opposite to it.

The play charts the story a young indigenous girls’s very troubled path  to adulthood. As per the plan title, Phoebe has very poor self image. The show shifts between time periods; starting with her as a little girl innocently playing with her dolls, then to her challenging times with her auntie who was pretty much her mother whilst growing up. Then there were her intimate experiences with other girls which she felt very  guilty and sought forgiveness for.

The actress Eliva does well in shifting between characters which include playing Phoebe, playing herself commenting on her younger self, playing her sometimes strict auntie, and God, judging her. Eliva wrote the play herself, which clearly had a strong autobiographical basis. with  help from dramaturg Tasha O’Brien.Hers was an engaging story, and thankfully was well staged.  Nancy Drewe’s direction was good, as was Holly Jane-Cohle’s design work. There were two main stage areas; one where she is a young girl, the other being her aunt’s territory. The lighting design was very effective. 

Part of Flying Nun’s Neighbourhood Sin program,  this  was a Queen Hades production, with producer Margaret  Thanos. The running time was 45 minutes.  A work in development, the piece only had two performances, Friday 24th January and Saturday  25th January 2025. 

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