Event Description
Tactile Tour at 1.00pm
Content warnings: Contains course language, sexual references, mature themes and strobe lighting.
It lasted a mere 15 minutes, but the ripples from Julia Gillard’s famed ‘misogyny speech’ are felt a decade later. Now a peerless team of the country’s finest theatre makers tease apart the many threads that led to this pivotal moment in Australian political life.
Julia is a rich, revealing portrait of a famously private figure. From her youth as an optimistic advocate for change through to the cruel and punishing attacks she withstood as she grew in power, Julia represents much more than the individual who became Australia’s first female prime minister. It’s a portrait of us, right now.
Written with impeccable insight by the legendary Joanna Murray-Smith (Berlin), directed by Helpmann Award-winning Sarah Goodes (Sunday) and performed by the phenomenal Justine Clarke and Jessica Bentley of the original cast, this acclaimed Sydney Theatre Company and Canberra Theatre Centre co-production saw audiences clamouring for standing-room tickets during its premiere run in 2023.
Now Julia arrives in the town Prime Minister Gillard called home throughout her political term, at a moment when women’s rights around the world are under threats new and old, to ask how far we’ve come.
This play is a fictional imagining by the playwright, of true events in the life of Julia Gillard. It combines references to true events, extracts from published works, interviews, fictitious commentary and opinions which the playwright and the producers believe to be honestly held. Ms Gillard has not endorsed or read, nor had any artistic input into the production of this play.
Playwright: Joanna Murray-Smith
Director: Sarah Goodes
Cast includes: Jessica Bentley and Justine Clarke
