PENOLA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 1867

All Mary MacKillop wanted was to live the dream. But to others -- the staunch male hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church -- she was a nightmare. What MacKillop didn't count on was the degree of obstruction that would stand in her way.

And she did not expect to be humiliated and excommunicated, making it necessary for her to brazen out the storm to found an order of women who would educate the young in wild and remote places in Australia.

She was Australia's Martin Luther. The antipodean Thomas More. Our Joan of Arc. A woman for all seasons. But this play takes powerful narrative in an unexpected direction.

The drama is structured so that it takes place in a double time frame: the 19th Century and the 21st Century.

THE VATICAN, 2008

One hundred and forty years after Mary MacKillop, in 2008, another young Australian woman, Anna, goes to Rome with a passionate mission to seek an audience with Pope Benedict XVI to push for the final steps of Mary MacKillop's case to be Australia's first Saint.

But Anna has a few boundaries to cross.

First, she is a convert from Christianity to Islam, a predicament not guaranteed to thrill the new German pontiff.

When, owing to a terror alert, the USA President is forced to cancel a visit to the Pontiff, Benedict XVI suddenly has some rare time on his hands and, captivated by the young visitor from Australia, grants her a longer audience than she expected.

But what she also does not expect is the intensity of interrogation regarding her conversion, and the discovery by the Pope of a personal aspect of her life, a secret which she had dearly hoped never to reveal.

This play combines humour and drama in dealing with life and death battles and survival in Australia -- then and now.

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REVIEWS:

"A stunning new play, topical and thought-provoking. Australian work at its finest."

 Arts Hub

"A confronting, moving and very entertaining piece of theatre."

 Australian Stage

"A powerful play, a riveting spiritual journey that is full of surprises and riveting demonstrations of poignant faith."

 Islamic Education

"This is not a world of black and white themes. Entertaining and evocative, it avoids cheap pieties and shallow sentiments. MacKillop is a tough but gracious woman, shrewd but deeply compassionate, leaving the audience with a sense of admiration. What transpires is surprising and satisfying."

 The Aquinas Academy

Premiere Production: The world premiere of her holiness took place on 31 May, 2008 at the Downstairs Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney, produced by Stage Directions and Bakehouse Theatre Company.