New philanthropy-backed podcast created by women in prison

The four-part podcast series recounts the stories of women in custody, the experiences that led them to incarceration, and the injustices needing to change.

A new podcast created by incarcerated women provides a unique window into life behind bars at Melbourne’s maximum security prison.

The four-part podcast series entitled Miss It Appears We’ve Hit Some Turbulence offers a telling insight into the lives and stories of women in custody at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre and post-release.

Tackling themes including life in prison, domestic violence, drug use, cultural diversity, womanhood, childhood and trauma, the podcast weaves the recording of an original play and music with commentary from five women with lived experience of incarceration.

Somebody’s Daughter Theatre Company produced the podcast by supporting 18 women from 11 different cultural backgrounds, including Italian, Sudanese, Maori and Aboriginal communities, to channel the stories and trials that led to their incarceration into music, script and characters. The company uses the arts to work with women in prison, post-release and marginalised young people.

Additional funding and support was provided by The Australia Council for the Arts, Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety, Annamila Foundation, Margaret Lawrence Bequest, The Portland House Foundation and Gandel Philanthropy.

According to the latest ABS data, seven per cent of Australian prisoners are women – but this trend is growing, with Australia’s female prison population increasing by 64 per cent between 2009 and 2019, and again in 2021. First Nations women are disproportionately incarcerated at more than 20 times the rate of non-Indigenous women.

Alix Frost first joined Somebody’s Daughter Theatre Company during her incarceration in 2019 after watching a moving production by other inmates, and has since performed in the same play heard on the podcast.

“There’s no words for it. I was touched, I was moved, I could relate. Different women in the compound of the prison came together and got very vulnerable in a really tough environment. I thought I really wanted to be part of it so I put my hand up and got involved.”

The play that features in the podcast follows the journey of Matilda, a young Maori woman who lands in prison and finds a community who have similar stories as her own. It importantly comments on the link between female incarceration and experiences of violence.

Up to 90 per cent of women in prison experienced domestic and family violence, The Conversation reported, with most First Nations women in prison experiencing multiple forms of violence at different times in their life.

Frost plays the character of Phoenix, who experiences domestic violence and seeks help from the police, a subject matter that she said is “very taboo in a prison environment”.

“It was something that I wanted to tackle because a lot of women are in prison because they’ve finally had enough, and then they end up saving a lengthy sentence because of that.

“Writing your own story, you see it from a different perspective on yourself. The challenges that each individual woman goes through putting that into production can be quite confronting sometimes, but I think the purpose of it – to get your story out there, to be heard, to give a different perspective – pushes you through that.

“I didn’t ever realise what being an artist would give me. I built self confidence. I built self worth in myself. After doing the play, I went on to do uni inside prison. I tried to do everything I could inside of prison to do something different and not conform to the prison mentality and drama was a big part of that.”

Somebody’s Daughter Theatre Company’s co-artistic director Kharen Harper said the podcast acted as an important release for those involved, particularly throughout the pandemic, when the play was recorded.

“In 2020 and 2021 like so many, in so many areas of life, COVID forced our hand. Somebody’s Daughter Theatre couldn’t devise new work with the women, nor could the prison invite live audiences to see the women perform.

“We had one window of time, one nine-hour day, to record Miss It Appears We’ve Hit Some Turbulence with the women in custody before Melbourne’s long… lockdowns. This podcast was our pivot. A way of bringing the voices of women inside – out.”

Frost hopes the podcast challenges the preconceptions society holds about people in the prison system and helps create positive systemic change.

“I think I want people to understand the social issues in our communities, and what we can do to prevent injustice, criminal behaviour, drug abuse, mental health breakdowns, domestic violence, so people aren’t ending up incarcerated,” she continued.

“It’s a major snowball effect. When just one person is incarcerated, it doesn’t just affect that one person. Families are left behind, which puts pressure on communities and organisations. The ball keeps rolling.

“I want society to understand that today’s prisoners are tomorrow’s next door neighbours, and there’s so many different causes and reasons why people are incarcerated. Something needs to change, something needs to shift. The system needs to be better.

“These stories we’re telling can really apply to a wide range of people. We’re telling our own story, in our own words, and I think that is so powerful for the people that do it and for the people who watch and listen.”

Somebody’s Daughter Theatre Company has a 40-year history of working with incarcerated and at-risk populations, commencing in 1980 with a play that was taken into Fairlea Women’s Prison, which resulted in the provision of an ongoing drama program. 

The artistic methodology of the company plays an important role in creating personal and systemic change, building social connections, and stimulating cultural discussion and inclusion.