Review: The Lost Story of the Magdalen Asylum
An evocative though not entirely successful site-specific work by Melbourne company Peepshow Inc , The Lost Story of the Magdalen Asylum draws on the history and atmosphere of the Abbotsford Convent , where Peepshow have been based since 2005, to tell a story of hope, deprivation, and religious devotion. Like the company’s earlier work, The Mysteries of the Convent , this new production is a meticulously researched and historically accurate rendering of the lives of real people: nuns, prostitutes, penitents and others, whose stories have been woven into a theatrical presentation incorporating a range of disciplines. Puppetry plays a key role in a number of scenes, acrobatic skills are also called into play, while lighting and sound design are judiciously employed to enrich the performances of the two players, Teresa Blake and Carole Patullo. The Lost Story of the Magdalen Asylum is set in a portion of the former Convent of the Good Shepherd that – unlike other areas o...