The Visitors, Sydney Theatre Company, Mooghalin Performing Arts Inc and Sydney Opera House, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera house, 11 Sept-14 October 2023 and subsequent tour including Canberra Theatre centre 8-11 Nov

 

It's January 1788, and six leaders of the Eora nation gather. There's a fleet of ships off the shore, and the leaders are discussing how they should meet them. When a young man from the Botany Bay mob arrives, the issue becomes more urgent, and decisions are made - then negotiated. 225 years later, in an auditorium a short walk away from where those ships landed, it's impossible not to take these discussions and think of the 225 years of history that followed - on the day of this performance, also the day a referendum asked to recognise the descendants of these characters and give them a constitutional voice to government.

Jane Harrison's script has a classic structure - in some ways, it resembles "Twelve Angry Men" as the characters reach initial decisions then are swayed by debate, with Dalara Williams' Wallace taking the place of Juror number 8 as the dissenter and the one persuading the rest of the group to take another point of view. Wesley Enoch stages the drama on a visually striking rocky outcrop (set and costume by Elizabeth Gadsby), with the characters constantly in motion. There's a great sense of light and shade, from the joking of Elaine Crombie's Jaky to the overwhelmed Joseph Wunijjaka's young Lawrence, Guy Simon's procedure-obsessed Gary, Beau Dean Riley Smith's practical Albert and Kyle Morrison's nervous but wise Albert. 

Inevitably, the practicalities of live theatre means that there was a late cast substitution, with Aaron Pedersen standing in for an unavailable Luke Carroll as Gordon. This is a challenging role, as Gordon is the angriest of the six leaders, and Pedersen (understandably, on short notice, without a full rehearsal period) doesn't really give it a lot of notes beyond rage. I hope by the time the tour has reached Canberra, if Pedersen is still with the tour, he's found his way deeper into the role and can give it all that the role needs - as it stands, it's a slightly weak note in an otherwise strong production. 

This is a powerful, relevant work that lays a different perspective on one of Australia's foundational myths, and is well worth catching.