Written by Jenny Davis. Directed by Stuart Halusz.
Featuring Caitlin Beresford-Ord, Rebecca Davis, Michelle Fornasier, Alex Jones, Tegan Mulvany and Helen Searle
A compelling true story of the celebration of women’s strength, love and hope in the face of adversity.
Vivian Bullwinkel was one of 65 Australian nurses who boarded the Vyner Brooke in an attempt to flee the Japanese invasion of Singapore in February, 1942. Bombed by Japanese fighter planes and after spending days at sea, she and some other survivors found their way to Radji Beach on Banka Island where they surrendered. In one of the most atrocious acts of war crimes in our history, 22 nurses were forced to march into the sea where they were callously machine gunned. The only survivor and witness, Vivian spent the rest of the war in a prison camp before liberation, and her remaining years fighting for recognition of the bravery of her friends and colleagues; their strength and courage in the face of death sustaining her for the rest of her illustrious life.
21 Hearts relays the resilient Aussie humour displayed by the women in the camp and provides a respectful and authentic voice to those who were silenced, remembering them for who they were and not just for what happened to them.
A story of hope, courage, resilience and heart.
Featuring 6 of WA’s most outstanding actors, 21 HEARTS is a celebration of the human spirit and an uplifting, inspiring story which reminds us of the great futility of war.
21 HEARTS: VIVIAN BULLWINKEL & THE NURSES OF THE VYNER BROOKE launched at Como Theatre in 2024.
The show has toured across Australia including to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Performances continue at venues across Western Australia in 2026.
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Designing ’21 Hearts: Vivian Bullwinkel & The Nurses of The Vyner Brooke’
Research is a formative and immersive process within my visual design work. This practise of reading, noting, absorbing, listening and exploring is always fascinating and sometimes deeply emotional and contemplative. Throughout research and development for 21 HEARTS, I meditated on themes of strength and resilience, female camaraderie, courage and humanity, to produce visual elements that neither shied from terrors of war nor glorified them. Archival materials revealed glimpses into the personalities of nurses aboard the Vyner Brooke. Suspense, movement and moments of reflection were carried in abstraction and layering, bound together by textural themes such as the warp and weft of bandages and the ever-moving presence of water.
