Leticia Cáceres
Angela Betzien
Jodie Le Vesconte Louise Brehmer Melodie Reynolds
Pete Goodwin
Tanja Beer
Lisa Mibus
Children of the Black Skirt
Award
2005 Drama Victoria Award: Best Performance by a Theatre Company for Secondary Schools
Reviews
'Three actresses make light work of the script and the demand for multiple roles; it was something of a visual feast to watch the various physical contortions they used in an endeavour to replicate a very overweight woman, an orphanage inspector and several different young children. '
Arts Hub
‘This work explore incredibly important aspects of Australian history and is rapidly becoming cult viewing for young audiences across Australia through its schools’ touring and main stage exposure’.
Sally Chance, Come Out Festival Director
'Excellent. Exceptionally creative and imaginative work.'
Shanora Chapman Victory College
Synopsis
Three lost children stumble across an abandoned orphanage in the bush. They become trapped in a timeless world, haunted by spirits from the past. They are tormented, too, by the Black Skirt, a cruel governess who floats up and down the orphanage corridors wielding enormous scissors. But as the stories of these forgotten children are told— from pick pocketing incidents in the eighteenth century to the tragedies of the Stolen Generations in the twentieth— their spirits are released, one by one.
Children of the Black Skirt is a gothic fairytale with bite. Roald Dahl meets Charles Dickens under the harsh Australian sun, as Angela Betzien explores Australian’s history and the healing power of storytelling.
Children of the Black Skirt has been published by Currency Press.
Seasons
2009
Regional Arts Victoria Arts2go regional and metro tour.
Geelong Arts Centre
Abbotsford Convent, Sacred Heart Chapel, Melbourne
2005
The 2005 tour was auspaced by Queensland Theatre Company.
Come Out Youth Arts Festival, Adelaide, February, regional tour.
Sydney Opera House season, Housed Ed Program, March, Utzon Room.
Ragional Arts Victoria season, Victoria, April and May, regional and metro tour.
2004
Queensland Arts Council on-tour-in-schools, Queensland metro and regional tour.
Regional Arts Victoria regional and metro tour of Victoria.
2003
Queensland Arts Council on-tour-in-schools, Queensland metro and regional tour.