Description:
In the playscript The Visitors, Muruwari playwright Jane Harrison (Stolen, Rainbow's End) reimagines the arrival of the First Fleet from a First Nations' perspective.
Brief description: JANE HARRISON, a Muruwari descendant, was commissioned by Ilbijerri Theatre Co-operative to write Stolen, about the Stolen Generations. Stolen premiered in 1998, followed by seven annual seasons in Melbourne, plus tours to Sydney, Adelaide, regional Victoria, Tasmania, the UK (twice), Hong Kong and Tokyo, and readings in Canada and New York. Harrison was the co-winner (with Dallas Winmar for Aliwa!) of the Kate Challis RAKA Award for Stolen. Stolen is studied on the VCE English and NSW HSC syllabi. On a Park Bench was workshopped at Playbox and the Banff Playrites Colony, and was a finalist in the Lake Macquarie Drama Prize. Rainbow's End premiered in 2005 at the Melbourne Museum and toured to Mooroopna, and will tour to Japan in 2007. Harrison was the 2006 Theatrelab Indigenous Award winner for her play, Blakvelvet. She contributed one chapter to Many Voices, Reflections on experiences of Indigenous child separation, published by the National Library, Canberra. Her most important creation has been her two daughters.
Review Quotes:
'I do not doubt that The Visitors will take its place alongside Stolen as a touchstone of Australian theatre, and as an essential part of the continuing struggle to make sense of colonisation and multigenerational trauma.' - Harriet Cunningham, Sydney Morning Herald