'Vanishing Point is a crossover verse novel that poses the question of how individuals can learn to be comfortable in their own bodies. Nineteen-year-old Diana Warren suffers from anorexia and bulimia. She faces a challenging situation at home with dysfunctional parents and a Down-syndrome brother, which causes her to seek refuge in female role models in the mythic past. An Irish racehorse trainer who reignites her childhood love of horses causes her to question everything. Will she choose life or death? And what happens when that choice is taken out of her hands?' (Publication summary)
'Vanishing Point explores the interior and exterior life of Diana, a nineteen year old girl living in South Australia. She struggles with the question tormenting many young people today: How do you learn to be comfortable in your own body? Diana suffers from anorexia and bulimia. Living with a demanding father, a mother who dabbles in charismatic religion, and a brother with Down syndrome, Diana feels pressured to be the family savior, to be “perfect.” In her need to control something in her life, she retreats into the self-destructive world of anorexia and bulimia. The play takes us on Diana’s journey into a place of healing and hope. Theatre is a medium of metaphor – nothing and no one are exactly what they seem to be: brick walls are really painted flats; actors assume new identities as aristocrats, peasants – even animals or plants. So, poetry – another medium grounded in metaphor – seems perfectly suited to the stage. Jeri Kroll’s rich, evocative language enables us to examine sometimes painful situations without looking away.' (Production summary)
Writing Disability in Australia:
| Type of disability | Eating disorders; Down syndrome. |
| Type of character | Primary and secondary. |
| Point of view | First person. |
