The world premiere of Suzie Miller's new play, Strong is the New Pretty, arrives at the Brisbane festival just as the AFL faces a reckoning over sexism and misogyny. The production, a lightly fictionalised account of the AFLW's formation, is both shocking and crowd-pleasing.
Miller, known for the global success of her sexual assault play Prima Facie and follow-up hits RBG: Of Many, One and Inter Alia, swaps the courtroom for the locker rooms and boardrooms of the AFL. The premiere follows sexual assault allegations involving Sydney Swans players, making the play's themes particularly timely.
Fictionalised figures and real events
The play is billed as the 'untold story' of the AFLW, but readers of sports journalist Samantha Lane's 2018 book Roar will recognise the plot points and key figures. Miller lightly fictionalises her account: Sam Mostyn, the AFL's first female commissioner, becomes Alison Newtown (Lucy Bell); Jan Cooper, the AFL commission's first female football development manager, becomes Jane Hooper (Tara Morice); Bec Goddard, the Adelaide Crows coach, becomes Bev Heath (Amber McMahon); and Lane becomes Susannah Knowles, a young sports reporter.
The all-female cast of eight plays these main characters, with the rest taking on fictionalised Adelaide Crows members and doubling as side characters, including a Greek chorus of male buffoons. The 80-minute play, split into five chapters, opens with the characters' experiences of sexism and moves through the AFLW's formation, including the pivotal 2015 exhibition match and the 2017 grand final between Brisbane Lions and Adelaide Crows.
A fairytale feel with clear theses
Most key incidents, including the most outlandish and shocking, are drawn from reality. Yet the story has a fairytale feel: a posse of virtuous women overcome adversity and cartoonishly sexist men to triumph. Every setback is overcome, from boardroom naysayers to a supermarket checkout attendant who body shames a player. This makes for many fist-pump moments and easy comedy, though the sense of inevitability undercuts dramatic stakes.
Miller's theses are explicit: women have a uniquely collaborative and subversive model of change-making within hostile systems, and gender equity is a relay passed between generations. Director Sarah Giles delivers a pacy, crowd-pleasing production with the entire female cast often on stage together, featuring live sound, dance breaks and physical comedy. McMahon, Amy Ingram, Amy Hack and Contessa Treffone shine comedically, while Bell and Morice provide emotional ballast.
Dynamic production and resonant moments
Clemence Williams' soundtrack of clapped and vocalised beats, interlaced with tracks like Pump Up the Jam and Black Betty, and Kelley Abbey's choreography add dynamism. Footy play is evoked in slow-motion sequences with a pole-mounted Sherrin. The focus remains on human stories.
At barely 80 minutes, the play could take more time to explore its material's complex terrain. When such moments come, they resonate powerfully: a conversation between two team members (Nyasha Ogden and Edyll Ismail) on racism, sexism and public shaming, and a scene where another player (Ingram) is body shamed in a supermarket.
The triumphant endnote glosses over what change still needs to happen regarding pay equity, sexism and racism in the sport. But Strong is the New Pretty feels like a well-deserved and satisfying victory lap. The play runs at Brisbane festival until 19 September, then Canberra 24 September–3 October, Geelong 8–11 October and Sydney 22 October–5 December.
