Forgotten - Lost Voices.
Forgotten - The Play. Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Ride a roller-coaster of emotions in this Parramatta Female Convict Uprising in the play,
Forgotten, by acclaimed playwright, Cate A fully professional production by young drama graduates.
Be ripped from child, friend, family to be deported into forced labour. Never to return. Despair of entrapment in Parramatta Factory, when Matron's son steals their food and they starve, yet no one believes them. Laugh at their wry wit in the most perilous conditions.
Photo courtesy of Cate Whittaker.
Sense the noose as they go on strike. Cheer their victory in dodging bullets and bayonets to push down the gates of injustice and tell the colony they've been starved. Be moved by the compassion of new sisterhood and the devastating tragedy of banishment.
Photo courtesy of Cate Whittaker.
In history, there are only a handful of female uprisings and one happened here, in Parramatta. The Female Factory Site is of World Heritage Significance.
Photo courtesy of Cate Whittaker.
These convict women's determination to survive the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of Government Assignment and Factory Prisons, ensured one in seven Australians were born.
Photo courtesy of Cate Whittaker.
The women ran shops, taverns, farms, banks, workshops and homes. Their heritage helped make Australia the first country to allow women to enter Parliament.
Photo courtesy of Cate Whittaker.
This play can be seen at the
Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema on the following dates:
Friday 27 January 2023 at 2:30pm
Friday 27 January 2023 at 8pm
Saturday 28 January 2023 at 2:30pm
Saturday 28 January 2023 at 8pm
Cate Whittaker Playwright -Social Historian – Adult Educator.
BA hons Econ Hist Soc, MA hons Col. Historical Thesis, Cert Ed, TESOL, textbook writer, editor, and playwright has written the play Forgotten.
Cate Whittaker Playwright. Photo courtesy of Wiki.
In this play, she takes you to the core of the convict uprising at the Parramatta Female Factory in 1827. "
British Historians had chosen to ignore it because it was women, it was convicts, it was Catholics. Deportation was the cruellest, most callous of all penal systems because it robbed women of their children, their partners, parents, siblings and friends,'' Ms Whittaker said.
One in seven Australians descend from these women.
MEET SOME OF THE CAST.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
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Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
To learn more about the cast and creatives, click on the following link:
riversideparramatta.com.au/show/forgotten-2023
This play could not be produced without the creative expertise of the following:
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Live Theatre and Cinema.
Over the years, I have put together a number of other articles about what has happened at the Female Factory at Parramatta. Click on the following links to read more.
History, Her Story, Our Story - Bicentennial Dedication.
www.weekendnotes.com/history-her-story-our-story-bicentennial-dedication/
It's a Riot 195 years on. www.weekendnotes.com/its-a-riot-parramatta-female-factory122209/
If you are into Australian history, this play is one not to be missed.
