In 2012, Australia’s first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, gave a speech that sent shockwaves around the world. Just over a decade later, one of Australia’s most esteemed and globally-produced playwrights, Joanna Murray-Smith, brings the human story behind that speech to the stage.
Julia is an extraordinary play that will see Justine Clarke (Children of the Sun) embody the life and career that led to the ‘misogyny speech’, in a phenomenal performance directed by Helpmann Award-winning Sarah Goodes (The Children).
This is both an intimate and compelling insight into the person behind the public mask, and a reflection on the experience of women in contemporary politics. Combining genuine excerpts from Gillard’s speech with Murray-Smith’s incredible dramatic imagination this play is also a thrilling coming together of history and art.
Around the world, we are seeing the most profound rollbacks to women’s rights legislation in two generations. At the same time, there have been encouraging strides forward in the representation of women in positions of power, both at home and abroad. In this climate, Julia is a rousing and energising reminder of where we’ve come from and an empowering imagining of the challenges we’ve yet to face.
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.
Julia opens on Friday 31 May at Southbank Theatre running until Saturday 6 July. Tickets are available at www.mtc.com.au.
