8 Hours There and Back

13 Sep 2024 - 14 Sep 2024

Unity Theatre

Our Lives are timed around phone calls and visits that clash with our footy practice, dance classes, mate’s birthday parties, school lessons… We move house and live with our nans, granddads, aunties and uncles. We go to school and dodge looks and questions, what did they do? how long did they get? have you seen them? We get our heads down, try to get good marks, stay out of trouble, blend in, be normal…’8 Hours there and Back’ follows the stories of Ruby, Jake and Grace as they navigate a world that they shouldn’t be in and a judicial system that has forgotten about them.

‘I mean it is like, horrible for the person that’s went away because… obviously there’s all different types of people in prison… but like… it’s the family that’s got to live with it on the outside and… the outside… is a lot bigger.’

Inspired by the Real-life testimonies of children and young people who have a parent in prison and told through a fusion of theatre, dance and projections, ‘8 Hours There and Back’ examines how a system set up by adults is failing the children.