The inmates of the Girls Training School (GTS) Parramatta had about as hard an upbringing as you can get in Australia. But theirs is also one of the great untold stories of making good in tough times.

Parramatta Girls is based on the testimony of dozens of GTS old-girls. This vibrant play is a joyous and harrowing dramatisation of the experiences of eight inmates and their reunion 40 years later. Interspersed with song and storytelling, this is a tribute to mischief and humour in the face of hardship and inequality.

Eyes to the Floor chronicles the experience of girls sent from Parramatta Girls Home to the Hay Girls Home for even more brutal, punitive treatment. Written to be played by young adults, this moving work emphasises the childlike vulnerability of the inmates in a world where they must find connection with each other in order to to survive. Artfully woven with movement, chorus work and poetry, it is a compelling companion work to Parramatta Girls.

Parramatta Girls and Eyes to the Floor By Alana Valentine