Between 1848-51, during the devastating Irish Potato Famine, 4000 young women left Ireland under the Orphan Immigration Scheme, hoping to escape the brutality of their lives and dreaming of a better future.
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Many had known life only from within the walls of the workhouses in County Mayo.
They were aptly named The Mayo Orphan Girls.
The majority of them were sent to the South Coast for employment around Kiama and Wollongong.
Among those who set sail aboard the ‘Inchinnan’, was a group of five women who quickly gained a reputation for being feisty and somewhat bawdy, with strong, independent spirits.
These women were known as ‘The Belfast Girls’.
It was this strength and determination that helped them to survive the arduous, three month journey to Australia, but each carried with them, their own dark and shocking secrets of the past.
Highlands Theatre Group will reveal these tales of the Belfast Girls at Mittagong Playhouse from May 18 to 27.
Steven Clancy has taken the helm in directing the play, which is the first time the play has been presented in Australia.
Highlands Theatre Group is one of only nine amateur theatre groups throughout the world, to be given the privilege of doing so.
Theatre groups in Canada, Ireland and the US have brought this play to life, and it will be performed for the first time in Australia in the Southern Highlands.
Ellie Thompson will play Judith Noone, Kirsten Smith will play Molly Durcan, Rebecca Clayton will play Hannah Gibney, Rebecca Lackenby will play Ellen Clarke, and Sarah Jane Wiley will be played by Sarah Eleis.
The authentic costumes that will be worn during the play were made by Berrima’s Ron Russell who also made the dolls behind the Summer of the Seventeenth Doll production last month.
A volunteer for Highlands Theatre group warned Belfast Girls will be a “very intense” play.
“It’s a less sanitised version of our history in terms of our relationship with Ireland,” she said.
“The audience will be confronted to learn the level of hardship those families endured in the time of the famine and their growth during the journey.”
For information and tickets, visit htg.org.au or call Destination Southern Highlands on 4871 2888.
An adult ticket will cost $30 and a concession ticket will cost $25.
It has been advised the production will contain frequent coarse language and adult themes, and is not suitable for those under the age of 15.
