Parramatta Girls by Alana Valentine

Parramatta Girls opened at the New Theatre on 18 May and plays until 11 June.  It is very skillfully written by Alan Valentine who uses the stories from the now women, who once lived at the Parramatta Girls Home to give a brutal recount of what life was like for the girls.
From 1887 to 1974 Parramatta Girls Home served to reform girls who were delinquent, neglected or exposed to moral danger. Less than 7% of the girls had committed a criminal offence. The play gives you some idea of how the girls were supposedly reformed.
It is a very good production, the use of music and singing enhanced the tension and sadness. The staging and set were very effective. It does swap in and out of the present and past; at the beginning of the play this was slightly confusing but once you realise, you soon get into the swing of it.  The actresses all performed very credibly with some great performances, particularly during the more difficult abuse scenes. It is not all doom and gloom, it does contain some humour and you do learn how the girls survive the ordeal to become women. Even though you see the women as they are now Valentine makes it clear that none of them went untouched and even though they are strong women, they are still venerable and returning to the home brought but memories which had previously been locked away.
This is a very moving production, I really enjoyed it, it did have me and many of the audience in tears. It is hard to imagine why as humans we treat each other so badly and even though this home closed in 1974 I daresay there are still many places around the world where people are being 'reformed' in the same manner today.