You Are Not Alone
Created by Ylaria Rogers, Jason Langley and Martin Searles
Original Music by Andrew Worboys
After a one-week workshop development, You Are Not Alone was presented to an invited test-audience as a staged reading. This took place in Street Three at The Street Theatre, Canberra on November 29, 2024.
Producer – Heartstrings Theatre
Director – Jason Langley
Cast
Rose – Steph Roberts
Anika – Petronella van Tienan
Ricki / Emelia – Karen Vickery
Nell / Lorelei – Ylaria Rogers
Ella / Taylor – Steph Roberts
Tristan / Cormac – Christopher Carroll
Curtis / Yaron – Jarrad West
Zacky – Damon Baudin
Photography
Jane Duong
Inspired by lived experience and propelled by Grace Tame’s Australian of the Year speech, we began to develop You Are Not Alone in lockdown 2020. We conducted online interviews with twenty-one survivors of child sexual abuse from Australia and around the globe. This resulted in over two-thousand pages of transcript with which to whittle down and develop into a one-act verbatim play.
Over a period of four years we embarked on four development workshops, with much re-writing and table reads in-between, culminating in this staged reading for a test-audience.
Audience Responses
This was handled in the most wonderful, sensitive and life-affirming way. I would never have expected such confronting content to be delivered so beautifully and with such gentle care.
The power of a verbatim piece that is also grounded in personal experience is both cathartic and illuminating in its educational and emotional impact. Your play embraces both qualities, while also entertaining.
From an audience perspective a play that deals with confronting issues in a highly personal way with real characters facing real conflict and striving for resolution whether through catharsis or social action will always encourage a profound response from the audience as long as it is well written, well crafted and well acted and produced. You Are Not Alone achieved all requirements of good and relevant theatre.
Brilliant! Very engaging.
The tone was well-paced and well-balanced between laugh out loud and gut punch. The subject matter was handled in a way that showed the diversity of experiences, responses and reflections of survivors.
The piece flows really well, with a good range of characters.
It was incredibly well told, very real and important. Sensitivity and humour were the best way to convey the message.
People are afraid of this topic, however, this felt appropriate, ok and safe!
Excellent, it’s really working.
Entertaining, engaging and impactful.
Powerful ending!
