$5.40 – $15.00
FIERCE is a play about the first female footballer to play professionally in the men’s AFL competition. It is the story of a woman trying to succeed against all odds. It is a play about the struggle. It is also a work of fiction: in sports where speed, strength, agility and power are necessary, no female has competed regularly against men at the highest level. This work is not a case for women competing against men in sport; rather, it seeks to reposition our view— not of what’s possible, but what’s imaginable. Flack is a female protagonist who lives outside binary gender stereotyping, who is subject not object, who lives through her body as a professional footballer. She wants acceptance and respect, not as a woman, but as a human. This comes at a significant cost.
The play follows Flack into the big league of men’s professional football—the hurdles she encounters, the intrigue she creates. The work is formed by her relationships with those around her: those who support her, those who don’t. Public opinion, media biases, and structural inequality are all present; interwoven with the themes of trust, identity and intimacy.
You can preview the full online text with a Membership
Female | 20s | under 3 minutes
Starts on page 47
EXTRACT: ...I’m running home and I slide in under the catcher and she drops like a dead weight right on top of me. She’s a big girl. It hurts. All the parents start up, calling out, jeering. I think it’s because I’m caught underneath. One of the dads is yelling something at the umpire, pointing at me, shaking his finger at me. I get up, I’m home safe and I’m walking back to the team and this dad’s just going off chop at the umpire. Then another man walks over and says I’m not a real girl.
Rehearsals for 2008 Theatre Works season.
Theatre Works 2018 Season
Critical responses: FIERCE, Theatre Works, March 28 – April 8, 2018
PLEASE NOTE: This page contains links to files that have been sourced, and websites that are maintained by other businesses and organisations. Please refer to our terms of use.
PLEASE NOTE: You will be directed to AusStage.edu.au for search results; Australian Plays Transform is not responsible for their completeness. Refer to our terms of use.