Episode 7
Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune
From infancy, she was nearly drowned in a bathtub by her volatile mother—and sexually abused by both her father and older brother from the age of three. Her childhood was a mix of tenderness and terror: her father sang beautifully at family gatherings yet assaulted her after movies; her brother called his ejaculations “sneezes” while using her body for years. She learned to freeze—her “white rabbit response”—to survive. As an adult, intimacy felt alien, relationships were marked by betrayal, and a brutal rape in her 40s echoed the violations of her youth. Therapy helped her uncover buried memories, including the devastating realization that her father was the one who attacked her after Annie Get Your Gun. When she finally told her mother, she was met with silence and rejection: “I don’t want to share it.” Now estranged from her family, she lives with PTSD but has reclaimed her worth. Her story is a haunting reflection on how abuse distorts love, identity, and trust—and how survival sometimes means cutting ties to finally breathe again.
Narrator: Anna Volska & John Bell
John Bell & Anna Volska - ACTOR | WRITER | DIRECTOR
John Bell and his wife Anna Volska have been major contributors to Australian theatre for many decades. They performed in London with the Old Tote Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company before returning to Australia. They have each received many awards for acting, directing and producing and have been honoured with the 2021 Equity Lifetime Achievement Award for their dedicated contribution to Australia’s performance industry.
John Bell OBE AO FRSN co-founded Sydney’s Nimrod Theatre Company in 1970, presenting and acting in many landmark Australian plays and in 1990, he founded The Bell Shakespeare Company to ensure Shakespeare’s work remains in theatres, schools and communities throughout Australia, taking lead roles in many of its productions. In 1997, John was recognized by the National Trust of Australia, as an “Australian Living Treasure”.
Anna Volska has acted extensively in theatre, often working alongside her husband at The Nimrod Theatre Company and the Bell Shakespeare Company. Anna has displayed great versatility in roles from Shakespeare to modern Australia theatre and she has also appeared in many Australian television drama series.