Cirrus@Austlit

'Poxed is based on the life of Lady Mary Montagu, one of the most remarkable women of the eighteenth century.

'When smallpox sweeps through London, Lady Mary, whose own fabled beauty has been destroyed by the pox, takes the courageous decision to have her daughter inoculated a procedure she witnessed while living in Constantinople. Thus she becomes the reluctant champion of inoculation in London (preceding Edward Jenner by many decades), facing the hysterical prejudice of those who scorn a proven method simply because it is practiced by old Muslim women in Turkey. Not until 1979 will she receive acknowledgement for her pivotal role in saving millions of lives.

'Poxed is infused with the beautiful music of George Frideric Handel, a friend and contemporary of Lady Mary.

'Written in a comic, post-modern style, Poxed juxtaposes the grounded, sensible, almost contemporary character of Mary with the ridiculous, pompous and larger than life eighteenth century men around her.'

Source: Tasmanian Theatre Company.

'In 1837 Sir John Franklin, Arctic explorer and a man who could not bear to witness the punishment of his own men, arrives as Governor of the penal colony, Van Diemen's Land. Conviction is the story of those unfortunate years.

'The well-meaning but politically naive Sir John is accompanied by his wife Jane, a vivacious, courageous, meddlesome blue-stocking determined to transform Hobart Town into the cultural capital of the southern hemisphere, and by his friend the reformer Alexander Machonochie.

'The idealistic Franklins find themselves in increasing conflict with the pragmatic Colonial Secretary, John Montagu, who is implacably opposed to any changes to the system he has been administering for years. An exploration of what happens when people pursue their convictions, the play shows how Montagu becomes a Machiavellian schemer, undermining Lady Jane's plans for reform and engineering the dismissal first of Machonochie and finally of Governor Franklin.'

Source: Australian Plays.

'Our Path is a large-scale community theatre event which celebrates the Federation of Australia and Launceston's unique connection to the Gorge. Set against the 1890s debate about Federation, the play examines the hopes and aspirations on the people of the time. The audience will move to four locations within the Gorge grounds. The formal 'play' will sit within a larger context that will involve several other events, one of which will use the talents of lighting designer Philip Lethlean to show the turning on of electricity in Launceston.'

Source: Ten Days on the Island program.