The Visitors

On a sweltering day, 26 January, 1788, on a bluff high above Sydney Cove, seven Aboriginal men stand looking out to sea. Moored off-shore is a huge nowee (boat) … then there are two, then more. Who are these visitors? Where are they from? What do they want? Should they be turned away—by force—or welcomed to country?

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. These senior men, carrying the weight of cultural responsibility in their very human hearts, must decide what action they'll take toward these unwanted arrivals. A decision, under pressure, that will have repercussions—unforeseeably and forever. Told with wit, charm, and a fierce intelligence, Harrison's playscript upends the dominant point of view of this pivotal event.

Annotated and with an introduction by Wesley Enoch.

About the Author

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.