IN A time when truthful conversations are often avoided rather than explored, Jules Allen articulately explains why. In her words, \u201cpeople are allergic to discomfort\u201d.<\/p>\n
The youth worker turned playwright has spent the last few years pursuing a career in the performing arts \u2013 a dream she\u2019s had since she was two.<\/p>\n
Although it was always Jules\u2019 plan to become an actor, she acknowledged it wasn\u2019t an easy road. An oppressive battle with drug and alcohol addiction inadvertently pierced her childhood ambition, but despite the odds of fate versus reality, it simultaneously presented a new and meaningful pathway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was 19, I had major drug issues, alcohol issues. I was depressed, I was suicidal\u2026 I was not in a good way,\u201d Jules admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cA girlfriend of mine\u2019s sister was working as a youth worker. Her job was basically just to pick up kids who were really struggling and talk to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember meeting her one day and thinking, \u2018I want to be exactly like her\u2019. That\u2019s the only time I\u2019ve had that thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 22, Jules took in her first foster child and was working in youth support and child protection. She has since housed over 30 children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think because of my troubled beginnings I had a real empathy for the kids I was working with,\u201d Jules said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understood what they were going through, and I understood what they needed. They don\u2019t need anyone to fix them, they just need to be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once Jules began learning at 16th Street, an acting school in Caulfield, she realised how powerful a platform theatre could be in presenting societal issues which are reflective of her conscience and life\u2019s work.<\/p>\n
The morning after a Christmas party in 2018, Jules wandered to a Melbourne caf\u00e9 and began writing her first play.<\/p>\n
Just over three hours later, her spur of the moment idea unfolded before her eyes. Titled Slipped Through The Cracks, Jules\u2019 inaugural production is a visceral account of Australia\u2019s labyrinthine foster care system.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got no idea where it came from; it sort of feels like it wasn\u2019t my play,\u201d she confessed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people don\u2019t even know about foster care in Australia or what\u2019s happening with these kids or how flawed our system is.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as I wanted to present how flawed the system is, I also wanted to show how hard people work in it, and how you can\u2019t really win in a system when it\u2019s designed to fail at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
A culmination of stories and experiences, Slipped Through The Cracks explores what happens when a child under the watchful eye is not placed in a home until it\u2019s too late. Jules said the mental repercussions on young people who feel as though they don\u2019t belong are lasting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re so damaged. The trauma has had such a massive impact on everything that goes near them, and then they get labelled as the problem,\u201d Jules said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest issue is that people don\u2019t open their doors. These kids can\u2019t be taken into homes if there\u2019s nowhere to put them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Directed by Anglesea Performing Arts\u2019 Iris Walshe-Howling and starring Philip Besancon, Morgan Caruana, Stacey Carmichael, Jules Fryman, Libby Stapleton and Janine McKenzie, Slipped Through The Cracks will debut at this year\u2019s One Act Play Festival in Anglesea.<\/p>\n
Ground-breaking in its portrayal and execution, the play paints the darker side of foster care. Providing a voice to the powerless, Jules said she hoped to, at the very least, ignite discussion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended up adopting three kids I had in care, and their stories have ended really well \u2013 they\u2019re in a loving home, their careers are going well and their lives (are) on track,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s three out of 32 kids I had. Out of 29 of them, I know the stories of about ten. I\u2019d say two of them are doing OK and the other eight aren\u2019t doing so good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is it doesn\u2019t end well for these kids. They\u2019re moved around, shuffled in the system and constantly rejected because there\u2019s not enough carers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jules said stories about people overcoming struggle are not only her favourite to write but are often the most hard-hitting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe (actors) are just a vessel for someone else\u2019s story,\u201d Jules said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to stay true to what matters and me becoming an actor doesn\u2019t matter, but if I can tell a story of someone else\u2019s pain and have that heard, that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catch Slipped Through The Cracks on August 23, 24, 30 or 31 at Anglesea Memorial Hall (1B McMillan St, Anglesea). For more information and for tickets, visit trybooking.com\/BEACK or angleseaperformers.org.au.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IN A time when truthful conversations are often avoided rather than explored, Jules Allen articulately explains why. In her words, \u201cpeople are allergic to discomfort\u201d. The youth worker turned playwright has spent the last few years pursuing a career in the performing arts \u2013 a dream she\u2019s had since she was two. Although it was […]<\/p>\n