Content Warnings

THE HEARTBREAK CHOIR deals with content that some audience members might find distressing.

Child sexual abuse

  • Child abuse in the church: Barbara tells the choir about Caro admitting she was abused by the church as a child
  • Aseni abruptly states to Peter (Caro’s widower) that she was molested by the priest
  • Barabra describes in detail that Caro was ‘raped. Three times. Maybe more. When she was eight… only stopped when she got her period’
  • Barbara details how they should pursue ‘the Department of Justice… make a submission to the Royal Commission… Tell [Caro’s abuse] story’
  • Peter explains he’s made a submission to the Royal Commission
  • Mack references the church hall where the abuse took place

Suicide

  • Caro was abused by the church as a child and three weeks after divulging this information to her choir group she ‘hung herself from the Coolabah tree in Victory Gardens’
  • Peter asks Barbara why the choir split up; he offers: ‘is it because [his wife’s] suicide is a sin in the eyes of the church?’
  • Peter explains to his son why Caro killed herself: ‘She was in a lot of pain and didn’t know how to get out’
  • Barbara admits she ‘missed the fault line’ not seeing Caro’s suicide coming
  • As Peter tries to explain to his son why his mum killed herself he bursts into tears and stands, breathing heavily, trying to squash it down.

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