Emily Barclay (ABC’s Please Like Me) plays a young writer in Melbourne’s inner suburbs who quits her day job in a clothing store to find something new, something with a stronger sense of purpose. She lands a role in public relations for a family violence legal service. It’s the kind of job that can completely change the way you see the world – and it will.

 

A stunning and deeply moving Australian story, Lethal Indifference is based on real events and writer Anna Barnes’ own experiences. Told through a single actor, it is full of drama, rich humour and surprising revelations.

 

Lethal Indifference is many things at once: the tale of a young woman’s growing awareness; a meditation on society’s complicity in domestic violence; and a captivating, finally tragic, story of another woman’s fight to survive.

 

"There are two types of women in this world. Those that think family violence would never happen to them and those that know it could happen to anyone.” 

 

Performed at Sydney Theatre Company in Wharf One

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By Anna Barnes

Director: Jessica Arthur

Cast: Emily Barclay

Designer: Mel Page

Lighting: Alexander Berlage

Sound: Clemence Williams

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Photographer: Prudence Upton

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“Real and visceral and important” The Daily Telegraph
 
“Jessica Arthur, in her mainstage directing debut, has crafted a considered production; its seeming diffidence belies a subtle sense of guided momentum that can only come from real confidence with the story and with a director’s choices.” ★★★★ Time Out Sydney
 
“An exceptional work… marvellously subtle, humane, intelligent and mesmerising” ★★★★★ Stage Noise by Diana Simmonds
 
“The one-woman, one-act play, carried magnificently by Emily Barclay, revealed an insider’s account of domestic violence that mesmerised and appalled an entire audience. There were gasps throughout.” The Daily Telegraph
 

“[Emily] Barclay gives a beautifully understated performance.” ★ ★ ★ ★ Limelight Magazine

 

“Jessica Arthur’s production (her first for the STC) is minutely crafted.” ★ ★ ★ ★ Audrey Journal

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“Director Jessica Arthur, in her main stage debut, shapes the piece skilfully.” The Australian