STORMING HEAVEN

Mary                                                We are allowed to talk now.             

Rose                                                 Are we?

Mary                                                Yes. For a whole hour.

Storming Heaven is a musical about Mary Mackillop and the incredible story of the sisters of St Joseph. Book and Lyrics by Melissa Reeves. Composed by Justin Posa. I researched in the archive at the Mount Street, Sydney home of the Order, and I was particularly fascinated by the stories of the incredibly young women who joined the teaching order and were sent in pairs to far flung country outposts. The musical is also about Mary’s struggles with the male hierarchy of the Catholic Church, and her close relationship with co-founder, Julian Tenison-Woods, who encouraged a deeply mystical ecstatic spirituality in contrast with Mary’s practical ambitions.

PRODUCTIONS:

The Red Shed Company and The Festival Centre – The Space Adelaide.

“Playwright Melissa Reeves excels with her encapsulation of the characters and cunning thumbnail representations of many of the crucial incidents which beset Mary and her motley crew of early Josephite nuns.” Samela Harris, The Adelaide Advertiser