Muruwari playwright Jane Harrison’s multi award-winning play has been resonating with audiences across the country. From its first staged reading in Melbourne over a decade ago to its world premiere in 2020, The Visitors has since been adapted into both a novel and an opera and toured extensively around Australia last year.
Now, it has finally arrived in Brisbane as part of QPAC’s Clancestry Festival (a celebration of First Nations arts and culture across an exciting program of concerts, workshops, theatre and children’s events, returns from 23 July to 10 August).
This Moogahlin Performing Arts and Sydney Theatre Company co-production delves deep into a retelling and reimagining of the First Fleet arrival from a First Nation’s perspective. One could say The Visitors is the origin story of our Welcome to Country.
In 1788 on a scorching January day, seven Elders from different Indigenous clans meet in Warrane (Sydney Cove) to discuss the arrival of ships in the harbour.
This is no Aussie BBQ. Connecting country and communities together, audience are introduced to each Elder and their clan one at a time, weaving a story where characters are not separate from the land but are one with it.
The Visitors: A clash of genders and generations
While they debate over whether they should welcome the newcomers ashore or not, the weather turns as tensions rise. Cracks begin to appear as opinions from different genders and generations clash. Old wounds resurface. Arguments erupt. Only when they put grievances aside can a unanimous decision be made, one that roots us all in stories of past, present and future.
Directed by Wesley Enoch AM, this politically charged play draws the audience into the decision-making, not just inside the world of the play, but as they walk out of the theatre. It’s clever storytelling when a play makes you feel part of it and responsible for the outcome.
This is, at its heart, an ensemble piece, at its most powerful when all seven Elders are in heated debate, each Elder pushing their point with the force of thunder and lightning. The script is layered with meaning, from Zoe Walters’ comic quips, to Stephen Geronimo’s passionate monologues, each line building toward the decision that ultimately shaped our country.
Elizabeth Gasby’s set is simplistic in style yet holds significant importance in the story. Sand dunes are piled high with oyster shells and a sandstone cliff backdrop reflects the coastline that is both beautiful and unforgiving.
Lighting by Karen Norris and sound by Brendon Boney also complement this, making the landscape a character in itself. However, the soundscape didn’t quite reach its full immersive potential in QPAC’s Playhouse Theatre.
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The modern formal suits worn by the cast offer a stark contrast to the time period, evoking shades of the courtroom drama 12 Angry Men, with similar themes of justice and moral reckoning, but placing it in the present.
The Visitors offers an understanding of the mixed emotions of our national day, both the beginning of modern Australia and the painful disruption of over 75,000 years of Aboriginal culture. It reminds us that the past isn’t one clear-cut story, but a tapestry of perspectives. It’s our responsibility to recognise the generosity in sharing those truths and how this can create a shared future.
The Visitors by Jane Harrison is presented by QPAC and playing at Playhouse Theatre, Brisbane until 26 July 2025.
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Circle Mirror Transformation review: another safe bet from the Sydney Theatre Company
There’s sometimes a certain snobbery about actors like Rebecca Gibney.
A Gold Logie Award-winner best known for her roles in television shows such as The Flying Doctors, Halifax f.p. and Packed to the Rafters, she isn’t famous for her work in the theatre.
Gibney’s role in Circle Mirror Transformation marks her first time treading the boards in two decades. It’s also her first ever performance at the Sydney Theatre Company (STC).
And she’s good. Very good. Let there be more dissolution of theatrical snobbery; more Rebecca Gibneys on the Sydney stage.
Gibney plays Marty: a middle-aged woman who runs an amateur acting class at a community hall in a small town. Read more…
