Old stage ... Judith and Chris Cornish.
Julie Miller finds Hobart's inglorious convict history makes for compelling theatre.
MIRIAM COOPER doesn't think her Georgian cottage is haunted but that's only because she's given its former owner a voice.
Grannie Rhodes stands before us, in apron and ruffled cap, waggling her finger in our faces as she reflects on early colonial life in Van Diemen's Land.
Her story is compelling: a young family reunited with their convict father after travelling halfway around the world, followed by harsh times in an untamed country, marriage, children, grief and death.
Her story unfolds in Turn the Key of Time, an intimate theatre performance told through verse and staged in the very lounge, kitchen and bedroom where Grannie lived for 60 years before dying at the ripe old age of 94.
As an actor and former teacher, it was natural that history and drama would collide when Cooper began renovating the derelict cottage she bought on a whim in 2000.
"The more I found out about the history of the place, the more compelled I became to write it down, to share it," she says. "Grannie's story just took over. And the best way for me to tell it was through this play."
Cooper performs her 45-minute one-woman show every night for guests staying at her bed and breakfast, Mulberry Cottage, in Richmond, Tasmania, and it's an entertaining way to bring the property's history to life.
Grannie Rhodes's story was neither epic nor world-shattering but that's what drew Cooper to the woman who raised her children in the tiny stone cottage, baking in the electricity-free kitchen and pottering in the rambling garden made fragrant with roses and lavender. "I've been able to tell an ordinary woman's story, whose story wouldn't normally have been told," Cooper says.
Tasmania is built on yarns such as Grannie's - tales of the dispossessed and desperate, the thieves, vagabonds and no-hopers rejected by society and dumped in the southern reaches of the planet. Yet this humble history draws many Australians to the Apple Isle, searching for convict roots and embracing an inglorious heritage.
It's also a driver of the state's tourism industry, as guardians of the past find new ways to share their treasures.
On check-in at the Henry Jones Art Hotel in Hobart, I am handed an envelope containing an introductory note from the hotel's historian-in-residence, Warren Glover, along with convict records connected to my surname. Miller is a common name; however, these particular records are way off track - though had Glover been privy to other branches of my family tree, he would have discovered a genealogy littered with references to Tasmania and petty criminals.
Convict records are a brilliant, personal touch, though, one that reflects the role this harbour-front property played in the history of Hobart. Occupying the former IXL jam factory owned by local entrepreneur Henry Jones, the hotel sits on a spit of land where convicts first set foot on dry land after their long and tumultuous journeys from Europe. Hunter Island, as it was then called, was also the place for public executions: wrongdoers tarred and hanged or gibbeted, as a warning to others.
With its exposed sandstone walls and timber beams, the hotel is arguably one of the most sympathetic restorations in the country, with modern finishes and luxuries complementing the building's original features. Art and history are at the fore here, as a working-gallery space in which guests enjoy curator-led walks through its public areas to view contemporary art exhibitions.
It's also the only hotel in Australia with its own historian-in-residence. The theatrically minded Glover runs weekly walking tours through Hobart's streets, bringing the turbulent days of the penal colony to life. A born storyteller, Glover sees his role as an entertainer, elevating Hobart's history into something much more than bricks and mortar.
Glover's walking tours are free, are not restricted to hotel guests and, at the end of an enlightening stroll, you can relax over a beer or a glass of wine at the IXL Long Bar, a funky space decorated with an assemblage of cans from Henry Jones's jam-making days.
Like Glover and Cooper, husband-and-wife actors Judith and Chris Cornish found inspiration for their strolling theatre production, Louisa's Walk, in an ordinary woman who endured extraordinary circumstances. Transported in 1841 for stealing a loaf of bread, Louisa Regan journeyed from the slums of London to Van Diemen's Land before becoming one of 13,000 women imprisoned in Hobart's notorious Female Factory between 1828 and 1856.
Louisa's Walk begins outside the imposing Cascade Brewery and winds its way through parkland alongside the river to the Female Factory site. Judith is compelling as the hapless Louisa, while Chris switches accents effortlessly, playing various men in Louisa's life - a policeman, a magistrate, a ship's captain and a convict overseer.
It's an award-winning drama and has become TripAdvisor's No. 1 attraction in Hobart.
As you stroll along with the actors, you can't help but be drawn into the action, feeling Louisa's pain and sharing in her tribulations, from the desperation of her crime to the injustice of her punishment.
The audience becomes part of the drama as Louisa boards the transport ship the Rajah, embarking on a three-month journey during which she and the other 178 female prisoners stitch together a now-famous patchwork quilt.
But it's in the bleak and icy ruins of the Female Factory that Louisa's tragic tale really hits home, her anguish intensified by the grimness of the location.
Now a historic site with just its perimeter walls and courtyards intact, the site is a stark reminder of the conditions endured, with up to 1200 women and children at a time confined in damp and often unsanitary conditions. Although originally conceived as a place where convict women could be safe from corruption and exploitation, the Female Factory became notorious as a place of punishment, disease and high birth and mortality rates.
Louisa's story, as with that of many of her peers, does have a happy ending and for all its horrors, life in the settlement at the end of the world was, in many ways, considered preferable to the world the convicted felons had left.
From punishment came hope and the chance for a future - a legacy most Australians can undoubtedly appreciate.
The writer was a guest of Tourism Tasmania and Virgin Blue.
Trip notes
Getting there
Virgin Blue Airlines has daily flights from Sydney to Hobart, priced online from $99, one way. 13 67 89, virginblue.com.au.
Staying there
The Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hunter Street, Hobart, has rooms from $160 a night. (03) 6210 7700, thehenryjones.com.
Mulberry Cottage, Richmond, has rooms from $140 a night. (03) 6260 2664, mulberrycottage.com.au.
Turn the Key of Time costs $10 for cottage guests.
Louisa's Walk is performed daily at 2pm. Meet outside the Cascade Brewery. $30 adults, $75 family. (03) 6229 8959, livehistoryhobart.com.au.
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