The Secret River | |
---|---|
Written by | Andrew Bovell |
Date premiered | 8 January 2013 |
Place premiered | Sydney Theatre |
Original language | English |
Subject | The Secret River by Kate Grenville |
Genre | Drama |
The Secret River is a play by Australian playwright Andrew Bovell, [1] based upon the 2005 novel of the same name by Kate Grenville. It premiered in Sydney on 8 August 2013.
Narrated by Dhirrumbin, the drama is about a man who is exiled from London in the eighteenth century, and is sent with his family to a penal colony in the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales, where he hopes to make a new start, but its Indigenous inhabitants, the Dharug people, are not willing to give up their land.
The play was first produced by the Sydney Theatre Company (STC). [2]
Choreographer and then artistic director for Bangarra Dance Theatre, Stephen Page, was artistic associate for the production. [2]
The STC production of The Secret River had its world premiere on 8 January 2013 at the Sydney Theatre [3] as part of Sydney Festival. [2] The cast included Nathaniel Dean, Trevor Jamieson, Daniel Henshall, Miranda Tapsell, and Ursula Yovich. [3]
A 2016 remount toured Sydney, [4] Melbourne, [5] and Brisbane. [6]
In March 2017, a co-production of the State Theatre Company of South Australia and the Sydney Theatre Company, co-directed by Neil Armfield and Geordie Brookman, was staged at Anstey Hill Quarry as part of the Adelaide Festival. [7] The show was a record-breaking success, selling out all performances over its 18 nights, with an audience of 800 each night. [8]
It was scheduled to tour to Edinburgh International Festival and the Royal National Theatre in London in 2019. [2]
English settlers
| Dharug people
|
The cast for the 2013 production included: [9]
Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 13th Helpmann Awards [10] | Best Play | Won | |
Best New Australian Work | Won | |||
Best Direction of a Play | Neil Armfield | Won | ||
Best Male Actor in a Play | Nathaniel Dean | Nominated | ||
Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play | Colin Moody | Won | ||
Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play | Miranda Tapsell | Nominated | ||
Best Original Score | Iain Grandage | Won | ||
Best Musical Direction | Iain Grandage | Won | ||
Best Costume Design | Tess Schofield | Nominated | ||
Best Scenic Design | Stephen Curtis | Nominated | ||
Best Lighting Design | Mark Howett | Nominated | ||
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre.
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Nathaniel Dean is an Australian actor and voiceover artist. His most recent performances include Sergeant Hallett in Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant (2017), as well as colonial Australian settler William Thornhill in The Secret River for the Sydney Theatre Company.
Stephen George Page is an Aboriginal Australian choreographer, film director and former dancer. He was artistic director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Indigenous Australian dance company, from 1991 until 2022. During this time he choreographed or created 33 works for the company, as well as several other major works, including segments of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympic Games. He was artistic director of the 2004 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, and has also done work for theatre and film.
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