In Their Footsteps | Adelaide Fringe 2022 review

The forgotten women who served in the Vietnam War find voice in this intelligent production

Adelaide Fringe 2022. In Their Footsteps. Picture: Supplied

In Their Footsteps

Theatre and Thysical Theatre

Rating: ****

Mainstage at Bakehouse Theatre

Until March 12

They saw the horrors, risked their lives and have the lasting health problems of having being sprayed with Agent Orange, but the stories of women at the Vietnam War have been hidden or rarely told.

In Their Footsteps is a dramatisation of the moving oral testimonies of five American women who served in Vietnam more than 50 years ago.

Each featured woman had a different role as librarian, nurse, social services counsellor, intelligence agent and as one of the Red Cross “donut dollies”, an affectionate, if demeaning, name for those there to provide a moral boost for the soldiers.

Sydney-based Theatre Travels, with the 2020 Fringe success Girl Shut Your Mouth, focuses on presenting the powerful, authentic voice of real women in remarkable situations.

An acting ensemble is only as strong as its weakest link and there isn’t a weak one here among the terrific cast. The ensemble has evident stage rapport and maintains a strong sense that these are the stories of women of America.

This excellent production, reminds us there wasn’t one person who went to Vietnam and came home unaffected – but no other group as these forgotten women has had to battle so hard to hear themselves heard.