Helen Yotis Patterson has been collecting stories of Greek women who migrated down under in the hey-day of mass migration, in preparation for a new play scheduled to open in Victoria later this year.
Of Cypriot heritage, Melbourne-based Ms Yotis Patterson became inspired to create the project by conversations with her grandmothers.
Her research for the show, titled Taxidi – an Australian Odyssey has involved more than 20 women born in Greece but who have called Australia home since the 1950s and 1960s.
A reading of the Taxidi script with music will take place this month at the Melbourne city performance space fortyfivedownstairs on January 14, before it is performed at the Hellenic Museum in March.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos Ms Yotis Patterson said her research revealed some deeper aspects of the migration experience.
“Some girls who were sent to be married here were absolutely terrified,” she said.
“One woman I spoke to remembered she was wearing bobby socks when told she was being sent to Australia to get married. She’d never even worn an adult pair of shoes.
“Others were excited and elated, and wanted to leave. It was very varied, depending on the places they came from.”
Ms Yotis Patterson, who is a professional singer as well as a writer, has also unearthed songs from the era to be used in the production, which she says capture the hopes, fears and dreams of the women who were heading into an unknown future.
One of Ms Yotis Patterson’s most powerful motivations for the project came through conversations with her maternal grandmother Eleni Constantinou, who died four years ago at the age of 98.
“She had come here when she was 39. She and my grandfather ran a fish and chip shop in Collingwood and she taught herself to read and write in English.
“I’d be thinking a lot about her life and the amazing changes she’d gone through.”
The budding theatre producer, currently in search of the sponsors who will be needed to turn her script into a full-fledged theatre piece, has also elicited the assistance of the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne to showcase her project.
The production’s cast includes Lisa Marie Parker (née Charalambous) and Vicki Pappas and will be directed by Petra Kalive. Andrew Patterson is the show’s musical director and Con Kalamaras will feature on guitar and bouzouki.
Taxidi will be performed as a rehearsal reading on Wednesday 14 January at fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane. Bookings on www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
Performances of the show at the Hellenic Museum – with additional musicians – will take place on Friday 6 March (8.00 pm) and Monday 9 March (2.00 pm). Bookings and info at www. hellenic.org.au