Drawn from the experiences of a former prison guard, this play crosses an invisible line

The Age

21-07-2025

Prisons are often considered hidden, closed-off places – areas defined by how removed they are from everyday life. Most will go their entire lives not seeing the inside of one, perhaps fearing them or the people inside.
This is not the case for Tyson Tuala, a former prison guard stationed at the soon-to-be closed Port Phillip Prison. After working at the maximum-security jail for nearly four years, Tuala learnt every facet of the prison experience, including the 'yellow line', a metaphorical and literal boundary between guards and inmates. This divide was rarely crossed; however, Tuala became one of the few who managed to.
Now president of Melbourne-based Māori association Ngā Mātai Pūrua Inc., Tuala knew he wanted to share his story, along with those of the inmates he guarded, to lift the curtain on the prison system. But it wasn't until he met Alaine Beek, founder of Essence Theatre Productions, that he discovered the best way to do so.
Together, they created The Yellow Line, a stage play based on Tuala's real-life experience of attempting to teach a group of disinterested inmates the haka.
'If people can see and hear these stories, it starts to break down those barriers or the assumptions of what it's like for different people – for guards, for prisoners,' Tuala says.
'If you only ever hear stories like your own, your beliefs will never be challenged … seeing this with 200 to 500 other people, it helps you change your mind, it creates empathy, it helps you release anger and frustration.'
The Yellow Line doesn't just reveal what it's like inside a prison, it also shines a light on Māori and Pacifika communities, which are disproportionately impacted by incarceration in Australia. This, Tuala says, will hopefully resonate with First Nations people, who are also overrepresented in the Australian criminal justice system, and who helped pave the way for him to share his story on Woiwurrung Country now.
Many Australians' only existing encounter with the haka – a Māori ceremonial war dance – may be while watching the All Blacks before a rugby game. However, Tuala says the play explores its deeper cultural and emotional significance.