Part 1 Quotes

Little Myrtle Dunnage had alabaster skin and her mother’s eyes and hair. She seemed strong, but damaged. (Sergeant Farrat upon seeing Tilly again as a grown woman) Part 1

‘They’ll just have to get used to you,’ he said and shrugged.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I’ll have to get used to them.’ (Teddy and Tilly speak about the townsfolk after the Saturday night dance) Part 1

‘Jealousy is a curse and ugliness is worse.’ (Fred Bundle to his wife Purl about the other women of the town) Part 1

She [Molly] gestured at a crowd of invisible people around her bed. (When Tilly arrives and first sees her mother, she is shocked at how mad she is acting) Part 1

As food has nourished her body and therefore her mind, some sense had returned to her. She realised she’d have to be crafty, employ stubborn resistance and subtle violence against this stronger woman (Tilly) who was determined to stay. Part 1

‘Dunny’s mum’s a slut, Dunnybum’s Mum’s a slut.’ (Stewart Pettyman and the other school children tease Tilly as a child) Part 1

‘So you are going to kill me,’ she cried.
‘No,’ said Tilly and wiped her sweaty palms on her trousers. ‘The others were happy to let you die, I saved you. It’s me they’ll try to kill now.’ (Molly and Tilly) Part 1

The disease that crippled Mrs Almanac was rheumatoid arthritis. Her face was lined from pain – some days even her breathing caused her dry bones to grate and her muscles to fill with fire. She could predict rain coming, sometimes a week ahead, so was a handy barometer for farmers – they often confirmed with Irma what the corns on their toes indicated. Part 1

He was a man who touched women, leaned in close to talk, licked his lips and at dances pressed his partners tightly, ramming his thigh between their legs to move them around the floor. The ladies of Dungatar were polite to Councillor Pettyman… but they turned their backs when they saw him coming, busied themselves with a shop window or suddenly remembered something they had to do across the road. Part 1

Tilly kept her eyes to the middle distance. She knew it was a mistake, it was too soon, too bold. A feverish nausea swamped her, guilt, and she said to herself, It wasn’t my fault, but moved to step back anyway. Teddy held her firm, his strong arm about her waist. (Tilly and Teddy attend the social dance together) Part 1

They [the townsfolk] were used to the sergeant’s bachelor ways; he’d often purchased materials for tablecloths and curtains. Muriel said he must have the fanciest linen in town. (Gertrude when Sergeant Farrat buys a bolt of blue gingham fabric from the Pratts’ General Store) Part 1

‘Girls like her [Tilly] need a bloke like me about.’ (Teddy speaks to Molly about wanting to go on a date with Tilly) Part 1

He could sell seawater to a sailor. (Teddy’s entrepreneurial skills) Part 1

She [Tilly] thought about Teddy McSwiney, and wondered if the rest of town would be as friendly. Part 1

‘My future,’ muttered William determinedly, ‘I will make a life worth living here.’ Then self-doubt engulfed him and he looked at his lap, his chin quivering. Part 1

Part 2 Quotes

The town will be quiet again and the children will go back to the creek to play. The adults will wait for football season. The cycle was familiar to Tilly, a map. (The town will revert back to normal after the annual harvest and store in the silos takes place) Part 2

‘Mum says I’m not quite finished. Dad says I’m only five bob out of ten.’ (Barney explaining himself to Tilly) Part 2

‘I can look after you… that is, if you want me to.’ (Teddy’s proposal to Tilly) Part 2

In the morning she found the materials on Muriel’s counter, at inflated prices. The haberdashery counter had expanded its range of buttons, zips and beads which Alvin imported from specialist shops in Richmond, while he purchased accessories from wholesalers in Collins Street then sold them at 100 percent markup to the highly competitive locals. Part 2

At home, Tilly sat by the fire with a glass of beer and a cigarette, thinking about her schooldays with dumpy little Gertrude who had to wear extra elastic in her plaits because her hair was so thick. Part 2

She let the tea-coloured silk negligee slide over her chilly nipples and looked in the mirror again. ‘I am Mrs William Beaumont of Windswept Crest,’ she said. Part 2

‘…we’d jump into the grain trucks as they pulled out of the loading dock then stay on top of the wheat until we crossed the creek, where we’d jump in…’ (Teddy moments before he dies) Part 2

‘It’s not that – it’s what I’ve done. Sometimes I forget about it and just when I’m… it’s guilt, and the evil inside me – I carry it around with me, in me, all the time.’ (Tilly speaking to Teddy about the affect her past has on her) Part 2

‘She has good days and not-so-good, but she’s always entertaining and things come back to her from time-to-time.’ (Tilly talks to Farrat about her mother) Part 2

These days women made their housecoats from ‘imported’ brocade with ivory or diamante buttons, and swanned about their country bungalows in pastel silk chiffons or tapered velvet pants with cummberbund waists and high-necked jerseys, like movie stars. Part 2

Tilly, professional and gracious, took each of her clients one by one to the dining room to discuss their need and visions. She noted the members of the newly formed Dungatar Social Club had acquired an accent overnight – an enunciated Dungatar interpretation of queenly English. Part 2

He [Sergeant Farrat] kissed her [Tilly’s] hand and then wrapped the magenta silk organza about his shoulder… walked[ing] gracefully to the mirror in imaginary stilettos. He twirled, enjoying his reflection… Part 2

‘Why don’t you get that scandalous Tilly what’s-her-name to make you some new things? She’s cheap I hear.’ (Lesley trying to convince Mona to begin wearing some different outfits) Part 2

The women of Dungatar dressed astonishingly well, strolling from the library to the chemist and back again in luxurious frocks… relaxing in the park in sun frocks with asymmetric necklines common to European couture. Part 2

She wondered how Paris had found its way to the dilapidated confines and neglected torsos of banal housewives in a rural province. (The stranger who arrives from the city to offer Tilly a job considers the usual fashions of the ladies in Dungatar) Part 2

He was her good friend and he was her ally. (Tilly about Teddy) Part 2

They [the women of Dungatar] have been renovated, European-touched, advanced to almost avante-garde by Tilly Dunnage. Part 2

The couturiered ladies of Dungatar arrived late and entered the hall at three-minute intervals, poised, their noses aimed at the lights and their mouths creased down. They moved slowly through the gaping guests from Winyerp. Part 2

She [Tilly] prompted them to order new lingerie, and quoted Dorothy Parker – Brevity is the soul of lingerie. She told them about body shape and what complimented theirs and why. She constructed patterns and designs especially for them and warned them that they would need three fittings each, and then she told them they must choose fragrances that reflected the mood of their clothes. Part 2

Part 3 Quotes

Bitterness rested on Tilly’s soul and wore itself on her face. (after Teddy’s death) Part 3

‘Well then I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake,’ said Tilly. ‘ I’m a qualified tailoress and dressmaker. You just need someone handy with a needle and thread.’ (Tilly to Una Pleasance) Part 3

She could tie up the loose ends, leave, go to Melbourne, take a job with the traveller who’d visited last autumn. Yet there was the matter of the sour people of Dungatar. In light of all they had done, and what they had not done, what they had decided not to do – they mustn’t be abandoned. Not yet. (Tilly considering to herself after Teddy and Molly have passed and she is on her own) Part 3

‘…we’re used to being badly treated.’ (Molly) Part 3

But it wasn’t a bin brimming with wheat. It was a bin filled with sorghum…. And Teddy vanished like a bolt into a tub of sump oil and slid to suffocate at the bottom of that huge bin in a pond of slippery brown seeds like polished liquid sand. Part 3

She [Tilly] stood unsteadily and held out a hand to him [Barney] but his mouth screwed open and he turned and stumbled away, yowling, holding his arms across his chest. (The final time Tilly sees Barney after Teddy’s death) Part 3

‘This is the Pratts’ store,’ said Lesley, breaking the trance. ‘The only supply outlet for miles, a gold mine! It’s got everything – the bread monopoly, the butcher, haberdashery, hardware, even veterinary products…’ (Lesley introducing the town to Una) Part 3

Edward always remembered the look on Evan’s face at that moment… when he realised fully what it all meant, what it had come to. (Edward McSwiney reflects on when he told the town how Stewart Pettyman had died) Part 3

Part 4 Quotes

‘I don’t care, Tilly,’ he said. ‘I’m beyond caring what those people think or say anymore. I’m sure everyone’s seen what’s on my clothes line of the years, and I’m about due to retire anyway.’ (Tilly confirms that Farrat wants to attend Molly’s funeral in a black knee-length frock) Part 4

Trudy stepped close to Elsbeth and, leaning down over her, yelled, ‘ You’re always telling me what I can’t do. I can do anything I want.’ (Trudy as the play director) Part 4

‘Tagetes patula’, said Tilly. ‘They deter white fly from tomato plants, and they’re good for repelling eelworm in roses and potatoes as well. The roots have a component that deadens the detector that triggers eelworm release – numbs it completely.’ (Tilly explaining to Marigold what her flowers will do) Part 4

When they came up thirteen seconds later for Act 2, Banquo and Fleance swept onto the stage to find their audience had vanished. Part 4

Sergeant Farrat’s secret wardrobe hung in a locked cupboard next to the front door. Part 4

‘It’s all very hazy now, but you left I seem to remember, because your mother became unwell?’ (Marigold discusses her confusion with Tilly) Part 4

‘Some people don’t think they have to honour their marriage vows either,’ said Nancy.
‘At least I have a preference for men, some sick people in this town…’ (Lois and Nancy are arguing during rehearsals) Part 4