Broken Dreams

A trilogy of short plays that explored the relationship between Europeans and the First Nations people of Van Dieman's Land. The three plays were "Ashes", "The Eye Witness" and "The Black Man's House". The press release stated that

"...the plays present the experience of white invaders confronted by a culture vastly and shockingly different from their own: and the plays seek some understanding of what happens to us, now, when we are confronted by the Aboriginal presence in Australia in the 1980s.

"Ashes. Based on the writings of Francois Peron, zoologist and historian of the French Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Hemisphere in 1802. With the Aborigines of Tasmania, Peron shares delight and laughter, mystery, intrigue and misunderstanding.

"The Eye Witness. Set in Hobart Town, twenty six years after the Massacre of the Aborigines at Risdon Cove in May 1804, Edward White, a convict and eye witness of the Massacre, gives evidence of the Aboriginal Committee of Enquiry established by Governor George Arthur. His version differs from the official accounts.

"The Black Man's House. Lt. William Darling of 63rd Regiment became Commandant of the Aboriginal Establishment on Flinders Island in 1832. Based on Darling's recently discovered letters to the Colonial Secretary, the play is set in September 1834 as he prepared to rejoin his Regiment in India. The letters reveal his frustrations and final disillusion with the Colonial Government's resolve to protect the survivors."