World Premiere – St Mary’s in Exile (Video Interview)

One of the roles of theatre is to reflect back to us who we are as individuals and a community. It also offers an opportunity to pose questions and provoke debate about life’s big questions and hopefully be a catalyst for change where needed.

Queensland Theatre Company provides this opportunity with their World Premiere production of St Mary’s in Exile.

Penned by David Burton, the local story is based on Parish Priest Father Peter Kennedy, whose unorthodox leadership of the St Mary’s Church in South Brisbane lead to the biggest schism in the history of the Catholic Church in Australia.

The ousting of Father Peter Kennedy and subsequent exile of himself and many his devoted parishioners gained so much notoriety that even a feature documentary was made by award winning filmmaker Peter Hegedus (Soul Vision Films).

Aussie Theatre’s reporter, Bobbi-Lea, caught up with writer David Burton to chat about his approach to such a challenging and still intensively divisive topic in the local community.

St Mary’s in Exile will play at the QTC’s Bille Brown studio until September 25. For more information, head to the Queensland Theatre Company’s website.