A powerful, challenging stage show that seeks to start conversations about intoxication and sexual consent is coming to Kyneton Bluestone Theatre in August.
Gibbo, directed by Sandy Fairthorne and written by Fairthorn in collaboration with Anthony Sharpe, Kirsty Snowden and Rebecca Morton, is based on a true event and set in a farmhouse in regional Victoria.
The play grapples with the concept of drug rape, revolving around a popular farming couple, Gibbo and Claire, whose lives are rocked when a woman enters their home a day after their party, where she believes she was drug raped.
“She has only one request to make of this man,” said Fairthorne.
“But it requires that he admits he committed the offence – therein lies the challenge.”
Fairthorne said it was her own experience of the subject over three decades ago which prompted her to create something to get people talking.
“It’s always bothered me how to write about this subject,” she said.
“Then one day I thought, ‘what if…’, and the spark for the play started.”
The play has been five years in the making, and despite its dark themes, Fairthorne said it had moments of genuine tenderness and laughter.
“The ending is, for the most part, both cathartic and positive. It has a sense of moving on, resolution, and even a glimmer of hope for the future – for all of the characters involved,” she said.
Audience feedback from the show’s opening night in Castlemaine described it as “compulsory viewing“ and “gripping“.
If you or someone close to you has been impacted by sexual violence, please reach out to:
Sexual Assault Crisis Line on 1800 806 292
Centre Against Sexual Assault Central Victoria on 5441 0430
Elsie Lange
