The Secret River | |
Premiere: | 8 January 2013 |
Place: | Sydney Theatre |
Orig Lang: | English |
Subject: | The Secret River by Kate Grenville |
Genre: | Drama |
The Secret River is a play by Australian playwright Andrew Bovell, based upon the novel of the same name by Kate Grenville.
Narrated by Dhirrumbin (originally played by Ursula Yovich), 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.
Produced by the Sydney Theatre Company, the play was first performed on 8 January 2013 at the Sydney Theatre.
A 2016 remount toured Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
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.[1] The show was a record-breaking success, selling out all performances over its 18 nights, with an audience of 800 each night.[2]
Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 13th Helpmann Awards[4] | Best Play | ||
Best New Australian Work | ||||
Best Direction of a Play | Neil Armfield | |||
Best Male Actor in a Play | Nathaniel Dean | |||
Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play | Colin Moody | |||
Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play | Miranda Tapsell | |||
Best Original Score | Iain Grandage | |||
Best Musical Direction | Iain Grandage | |||
Best Costume Design | Tess Schofield | |||
Best Scenic Design | Stephen Curtis | |||
Best Lighting Design | Mark Howett | |||