In 2025, in THE BRIGHT INSIDE, is the light in us all slowly being extinguished.

Can we Breathe it back into life?

Can we discover the real meaning of our existence as we ask are we the subjects of a divine destiny? Or do our own choices make us? How do we manifest ourselves and a world of absolute peace? Do we want peace or are we all suffering from Post Dramatic Troy Disorder – intergenerational trauma passed down through time since the first wars?

The Audience enters.

They discover a tent city, made of clear plastic. Under each tent is a woman, hiding, trying to find hope or having given hope up. They each have their own story, own arc and set of beliefs and wants for making a better world. These are women who have survived genocide. Suddenly they burst into the open. To give witness. To explain. To demand.

This play is set now - in a world like Troy. They are not Women of Troy but they are TROJAN WOMEN. And, as the victims of all this suffering, what are they OWED? Is this Gaza, Mariupol, Geneina, My Lai, Dresden, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Guernica? Or is this the place of the marginalised and homeless in any city in the world - a place where women suffer domestic violence?

The ANGEL OF THE CENTURY OF GOD appears. She is a Performance Artist. She is extreme - high heels, huge hair, knock off designer gown - the speaker of truths, the revealer of dreams. She narrates. She guides. She orates. She sings. She does a little soft shoe shuffle. She leads us to where we need to go.

The women wrap themselves in their plastic protection, like cocoons. Will they eventually emerge transformed?

They help each other. They huddle. They role play. The tell truths. They play games. They sing songs. They celebrate. They survive. They hope.

They move on.

The stories of the Trojan Tragedians form the spine of our great web of story: Hecuba (arch Queen of Troy, principal mourner),

Andromache (a heroine of noble humility, Princess of Troy), Cassandra (the oracle and priestess of Apollo, Princess of Troy),

Polyxena (daughter of Hecuba, Princess of Troy, sacrificial lamb), Helen (wife of Paris, that famous demigoddess who launched a thousand ships). And of the other women who tell tales of loss, share declarations of peace and women’s rights going back to the beginnings of time – our Greek chorus - The Woman of Now, The Woman of Then, The Woman of Spirit.

And then there are all of us who watch this trauma from afar. What of us? What do we do?

CAST & CREATIVES:

Angel of the Century of God: Bronwyn Naylor

Cassandra: Sherri Smith

Andromache: Vivien Whittle

Helen (of Troy): Sarah Pember

Polyxena: Cam Scurrah

Woman of Then: Crystal Griffiths

Woman of Now: Shay McInnes

Woman of Spirit: Adrienne Costello

Director/Designer: Michael Beh

Combat Director: Sherri Smith

Singing Coach: Phill Pratt

Dramaturg: Maureen Todhunter

Photographer: Naz Muller

Marketing & Promotion: Sarah Pember

Staging: In the Round Length: 60 min

Ticket Prices: $42 Adult, $32 Concession/Seniors/MEAA/Students.

Preview: $30 Adult/$20 Concession/Seniors/MEAA/Students.

Styles: Post Modern, Post Dramatic, Brecht & Artaud Theatre Conventions, Realism, Image Theatre, Song, Dance, Puppetry.

Performance Dates (total of 8): Friday & Saturday nights 7.30 pm 21 Feb – 15 March

• Fri 21 Feb PREVIEW NIGHT, Sat 22 Feb 1.30pm Relaxed Matinee Followed by PEACE EVENT

• Fri 28 Feb OPENING NIGHT, Sat 1 Mar

• Fri 7 Mar, Sat 8 March NIGHT WITH THE ARTISTS

• Fri 14 Mar, Sat 15 Mar (Final Night).