A Return to the Brink

Export event | Export network | Feedback | Print
Event A Return to the Brink
Venue Merlyn Theatre @ CUB Malthouse, Southbank, VIC
Umbrella Event 1999 Melbourne International Arts Festival
First Date 21 October 1999
Opening Date 23 October 1999
Last Date 13 November 1999
Dates Estimated No
Status Professional
World Premiere Yes
Description The first Government House is declared unsound. Governor Gibbs shakes the entire settlement with his decision to rebuild upon justice and humanity, ordering a retrial of the eleven white perpetrators of the infamous Myall Creek massacre.
A Return to the Brink is the personal drama behind the extraordinary 1838 court case, which recognised Indigenous people as fellow human beings. A judgement that was not reasserted until the 1967 referendum, it attested a vision of greatness for this nation.
With arresting brilliance, one of Australia's leading writers, Rodney Hall, combines poetry, history and politics in a remarkable play about greed, fear, justice and compassion - and a strong, but flawed leader who brought us back from the brink of civil war.
Description Source Brochure
Primary Genre Theatre - Spoken Word
Secondary Genre Historical
Subjects Colonial
Courts
Crime
Indigenous Australia
Race relations
Organisations
Contributors
Name Function Notes
Paul English Actor Governor Gipps
Lewis Fiander Actor Colonel Campbell
Andrew S Gilbert Actor William Charles Wentworth
Jackie Kelleher Actor Mrs Campbell
Greg Stone Actor Nathaniel Quinn
James Wardlaw Actor Young Officer
Simon Wilton Actor Godfrey Hooke
Christian Leavesley Assistant Director
Kate Blenheim Assistant Stage Manager
Andrew Pendlebury Composer
Judith Cobb Designer
Bruce Myles Director
Jill Smith General Manager
Glenn Hughes Lighting Designer
Rodney Hall Playwright
Fiona de Garis Stage Manager
Works
Text Nationality Australia
Production Nationality Australia
Event Status Completed
Data Source
Source Description
Report Playbox Theatre Company Evaluation Report, 1999
Programme
Brochure Melbourne Festival 1999 guide
Book John McCallum, Belonging: Australian Playwriting in the 20th Century, Currency Press, Strawberry Hills, NSW, 2009
Event Identifier 77502
Dataset AusStage