How do you stage a play that roams roads and follows rivers from Grafton to Coonamble? In Sydney Theatre Company’s new adaptation of D’arcy Niland’s classic Australian novel The Shiralee, directed by Jessica Arthur, there are two constants: land and sky.
A floor of wooden boards slowly loses its order and curves up like a ridge to meet the horizon. The trunks of ghost gums, wheeled in to give swaggies and rovers some cover as they make camp, stretch up towards a sun out of our view, disappearing beyond the proscenium. On this set, designed by Jeremy Allen and lit by Trent Suidgeest, swagman Macauley’s journey feels vast – but, crucially, not isolating. This is a story about breaking down isolation, breaking free from trauma, and learning to connect with friends, loved ones, strangers – and your own child.
