Production still for "Mavis Goes to Timor". Anne Phelan as Mavis Taylor. Photographer: Jon Green

Mavis Goes to Timor

By Katherine Thomson, Angela Chaplin & Kavisha Mazzella

07 February 2003 – 01 March 2003 Sidney Myer Courtyard

Based on a true story

Playbox Theatre Company, Deckchair Theatre,

New Writing Theatre Tour Collaboration

This is a play about a real-life person, 86-year-old Mavis Taylor, whose remarkable efforts to bring practical help to the people of East Timor make her a genuine hero.

Stung into action by the suffering of the East Timorese, an 86-year-old retired haberdasher from regional Victoria decides that she can make a difference. Along with her daughter, Mavis takes her sewing machines to Timor and sets in motion her practical contribution. Twenty-three sewing centres later, more than 119 tonnes of donated household goods have made their way from Mavis's place in Yarrawonga to the newly independent nation of Timor, and the sewing co-operatives continue today. Based on a true story.

This production toured to Victorian venues (Clayton, Ballarat, Bendigo, Mooroopna, Geelong, Nunawading, Frankston and Wangaratta) as well as Hobart's Theatre Royal. The tour ran from 6 March to 11 April.