Female Transport

This stark, hard hitting drama is an account of the political education of six women convicted of petty crimes in 19th century London and sentence to be transported to a life of hard labor in Britain's overseas penal colony (present day Australia). During the six month voyage they are kept in a cramped cell below deck where they learn certain truths about society. Foremost among these is they have been condemned due to the bias of a male dominated class system, represented in the play by the crew of the prison ship. Their consciousness raising is powerfully and sympathetically portrayed; at the end of their journey they have grown into a unified bunch of hardened fighters.