LUCY HADFIELD plays Tilly Devine

It’s hard to begin describing the woman that was Tilly Devine let alone the privilege it feels to play her. Tilly or ‘Madame Razor’ was a ruthless leader of the Sydney underworld during the Razor Wars. Brought up in south London as a sex worker on the street, to becoming a war bride and moving to Sydney with her violent husband. She made her own way up the ranks with nothing but her brutality and wits to assist her endeavour to be the queen of it all. She was ambitious but realistic and manipulative, no one saw the power she was to become. 

To be able to play such a woman, who owned her femininity but never let that stop her from playing the ‘man’s games’ is truely something. I admire her bravery and courage but also feel empathy towards her life. After all the research and the many hours studying her accent but also her history. I’ve learnt Tilly was a self-made woman that never wanted to see the poverty line ever again. I felt the need to humanise her, as we so often see her as this vicious criminal who had no remorse or feelings towards anyone. But had a brutal hard past and worked tirelessly to do everything in her power to never be put in a box again. Tilly Devine was a complex woman and I hope I do justice by her in really showing the world how powerful she was but also how real she was. How she felt pain, joy, and fear just like the rest of us.