A deeply authentic, verbatim-inspired conversation between inmates, their children and the people who work with them as clients, Comin Home Soon brings to the stage rarely heard perspectives on incarceration and its effects on families, most especially on children.
As part of a multi-year commitment to art classes in Goulburn gaol by GRAG which has seen a succession of Aboriginal artists go into the gaol, in 2012 playwright Alana Valentine was asked to conduct writing workshops with Aboriginal inmate artists.
Informed by privileged access to these men, and with the participation and engagement of the Shine For Kids organization who work with children of inmates, this work rings with an abiding call for understanding the complexity, diversity and vulnerability of this community.
Performed at Goulburns Lieder Theatre by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal performers, with the endorsement of many Aboriginal locals in the cast and as supporters, this is a surprising, confronting and genuinely original encounter with the ongoing effects of punitive justice on Australian communities.