Melissa-Kelly Franklin
 

PARADISE LOST

Theatre

A young Australian doctor begins working in an offshore detention centre on a remote Pacific island. Here she connects with an Iranian poet fleeing persecution for his homosexuality. Confronted by the suffering the people incarcerated, Robin finds her legal obligation to remain silent on the inner workings of the detention centre and her hippocratic oath increasingly in conflict; tensions which spill over into her personal life back in Sydney.

Playwright - Melissa-Kelly Franklin

Winner of the Australian Theatre Festival NYC New Play Award 2022
Shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2022-23
Longlisted for the Theatre 503 International Playwriting Award 2023
Longlisted for the Royal Shakespeare Company 37 Plays project 2023

Paradise Lost is a daring and moving piece that was unanimously voted as this year’s best play.” — Judging panel, Australian Theatre Festival NYC New Play Award

Staged Reading at Theaterlab, New York for the Australian Theatre Festival NYC, 2022.
Featuring Noor Hamdi, Jillian Geurts, Danish Farooqui, Bahar Beihaghi, Connor Delves, Saum Seyed, Jennifer Reed, Kathleen Simmonds & Mark Dessaix. Directed by Benita de Wit.

(Production stills by Matt Davies)