The Torrents

A Black Swan and Sydney Theatre Company co-production
The Torrents by Oriel Gray
WA Premiere

A woman's place is in the newsroom.

It’s the 1890s in the Goldfelds. J.G. Milford has hopped off the train in the small town of Koolgalla to take on a job at the local paper. She’s smart, she’s savvy, she’s incredibly qualified, but nobody knew the J stood for Jenny! Oriel Gray’s The Torrents is a newsroom comedy that rivals George Bernard Shaw. Jenny’s arrival coincides with a trailblazing engineer’s outrageous idea to bring irrigation to the community and debate rages about whether the town should give up mining for a more sustainable economic future. Meanwhile, newspaper editor Rufus Torrent and his son Ben are vying for Jenny’s favour, even as she pulls apart their chauvinistic assumptions.

The Torrents was written in 1955. That year, it was joint winner of the prestigious Playwrights’ Advisory Board Competition with Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. In the role of Jenny, Helpmann Award-winning comedian and actor Celia Pacquola (ABC’s Rosehaven, Utopia) will put the spotlight back on this neglected Australian classic.

"Oriel Gray’s name will take a prominent place in the history of Australian Theatre." - The Daily News, Perth (1950).

Director: Clare Watson
Dramaturg: Virginia Gay
Cast Includes: Gareth Davies, Sophia Forrest, Sam Longley, Alan Little, Celia Pacquola, Steve Rodgers

- Adult themes
- Suitability 12+