Round Earth Theatre Company
Encyclopedia
The Round Earth Theatre Company, founded by Richard Davey
, performs in Strahan
, West Coast, Tasmania
. Each night the company performs Australia
's longest-running play, The Ship That Never Was. During the day the actors work as tour guides on Sarah Island explaining the history and unique story of this Tasmanian penal settlement.
in 1972 in response to rapid progress in Australian drama and theatre at that time, such as that contributed by the Australian Performing Group in Melbourne, and to the creative impact of aboriginal dance and story activities, such as by Mowamjum Dancers and other groups in Western Australia, South Australia
and the Northern Territory
.
The Company was birthed from the idea of being an on-the-road performing company which would take stories to networks of communities, collecting new stories from the communities and forming stories along the way. It used a "pre-electronic" network, a world-wide "story web", that was based on a simplistic understanding of the Tjurkupa, the web of Dreaming Tales, which formed a network of communication, history and navigation for aboriginal communities in the Centre and the Far North of Australia. From 1973 to 1974, three journeys into the North and the Central Deserts
were undertaken, with storytellers, musicians, artists and craft workers visiting both remote mining towns and aboriginal communities. These journeys were funded by the Australia Council
.
villages in Arizona, with Canadian companies creating stories in remote communities, and with travelling troupes in India that performed legendary epics.
In 1980, the Company returned to Australia and decided to base the Company in Tasmania
. The Salamanca Theatre Company provided a base of operations. The Company had the idea of creating a repertoire of stories in and about Tasmania
in the hope of shedding some light about the overall Australian story, then take this story on the road. By 1988, a repertoire of performances, including Broken Dreams in Adelaide and Melbourne in 1984, and Hallelujah Lady Jane, Pieces of Iron and Guarding the Perimeter from 1986 to 1988, was forming and had begun to find its way interstate.
and Tasmanian Arts policy.
In 1994, in response to a request by Alan Coates, a Tasmanian Parks Ranger, The Round Earth Company, facing bankruptcy, took a two person play to Strahan on the West Coast
of Tasmania, performing The Ship That Never Was. Originally written and produced at the Peacock Theatre in Hobart
in 1982 for Breadline Theatre Company, it is the story of the last great escape, of the Frederick from Sarah Island, the dreaded penal Settlement celebrated in Marcus Clarke
’s For the Term of His Natural Life
. It performed in Strahan in 1993 for eight weeks, in a woodchop arena, aboard yachts, on Sarah Island, outside the Strahan Pub, and even at the Mount Lyell
Picnic on the beach. During the play a mock ship is built on the stage with the actors utilising audience members, including children, for additional characters in the play.
The Ship That Never Was performs every day and has exceeded 5000 performances; the Company undertook the daily task of providing Guided Tours on Sarah Island, and made dramatic performances in the form of a guided tour, of which four were sometimes organized in one day. In 1998, as a contribution to the supportive community, the Company undertook to operate the Strahan Visitor Centre, curating the exhibition created by Robert Morris Nunn and Richard Flanagan
, and providing information to tourists.
The Round Earth Theatre Company operated a performing/information/guiding company year-round in a town of 800 permanent residents with an annual turnover of nearly a million Australian dollars; the new company subsidised the increasingly expensive operation of the Visitors Centre and in 2005 shed the operation of the Strahan Visitor Centre.
In 2002 the Company expanded its fledgling publication services (information booklets) to publish The Sarah island Conspiracies by Richard Davey (2002) and The Travails of Jimmy Porter (2003), the memoir written on Norfolk Island
in 1842 by James Porter, one of the leaders of the escape on the Frederick.
Richard Davey
Richard Innes Davey is an actor, director and writer. He is the founder of the Round Earth Company and advocate for the understanding of the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station on Sarah Island on the West Coast of Tasmania....
, performs in Strahan
Strahan, Tasmania
-See also:* Convicts on the West Coast of Tasmania* Macquarie Harbour* Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania* West Coast Piners-Further reading:* *...
, West Coast, Tasmania
West Coast, Tasmania
The West Coast of Tasmania is the part of the state that is strongly associated with wilderness, mining and tourism, rough country and isolation...
. Each night the company performs Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's longest-running play, The Ship That Never Was. During the day the actors work as tour guides on Sarah Island explaining the history and unique story of this Tasmanian penal settlement.
History
The Round Earth Company was established in Western AustraliaWestern Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
in 1972 in response to rapid progress in Australian drama and theatre at that time, such as that contributed by the Australian Performing Group in Melbourne, and to the creative impact of aboriginal dance and story activities, such as by Mowamjum Dancers and other groups in Western Australia, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
.
The Company was birthed from the idea of being an on-the-road performing company which would take stories to networks of communities, collecting new stories from the communities and forming stories along the way. It used a "pre-electronic" network, a world-wide "story web", that was based on a simplistic understanding of the Tjurkupa, the web of Dreaming Tales, which formed a network of communication, history and navigation for aboriginal communities in the Centre and the Far North of Australia. From 1973 to 1974, three journeys into the North and the Central Deserts
Deserts of Australia
Deserts cover a large portion of the land in Australia. Most of the deserts lie in the central and north-western part of the country. The largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid...
were undertaken, with storytellers, musicians, artists and craft workers visiting both remote mining towns and aboriginal communities. These journeys were funded by the Australia Council
Australia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
.
Travel and return
In 1975, the Round Earth Theatre Company left Australia and travelled to North and Central America, Britain, Europe, Egypt, and India for four years. They linked up with various communities and performance companies along the way, participating, for example, in rain and harvest dance rituals in HopiHopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
villages in Arizona, with Canadian companies creating stories in remote communities, and with travelling troupes in India that performed legendary epics.
In 1980, the Company returned to Australia and decided to base the Company in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. The Salamanca Theatre Company provided a base of operations. The Company had the idea of creating a repertoire of stories in and about Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
in the hope of shedding some light about the overall Australian story, then take this story on the road. By 1988, a repertoire of performances, including Broken Dreams in Adelaide and Melbourne in 1984, and Hallelujah Lady Jane, Pieces of Iron and Guarding the Perimeter from 1986 to 1988, was forming and had begun to find its way interstate.
Zootango
From 1987 to 1993 The Round Earth Company established a professional company in Tasmania after the demise of The Island Theatre Company, the shortest-lived State Theatre Company in Australia, to provide the state with an ensemble company. However, Zootango, as the new company was known, despite its many triumphs became embroiled in the demands of the Australia CouncilAustralia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
and Tasmanian Arts policy.
The Ship That Never Was
In 1992, Round Earth went solo again, attempting a return to the road with A Bright and Crimson Flower, a large-scale epic about Australian Prisoners of War under the Japanese. Between 1992 and 1995 A Bright and Crimson Flower performed in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.In 1994, in response to a request by Alan Coates, a Tasmanian Parks Ranger, The Round Earth Company, facing bankruptcy, took a two person play to Strahan on the West Coast
West Coast, Tasmania
The West Coast of Tasmania is the part of the state that is strongly associated with wilderness, mining and tourism, rough country and isolation...
of Tasmania, performing The Ship That Never Was. Originally written and produced at the Peacock Theatre in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
in 1982 for Breadline Theatre Company, it is the story of the last great escape, of the Frederick from Sarah Island, the dreaded penal Settlement celebrated in Marcus Clarke
Marcus Clarke
Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke was an Australian novelist and poet, best known for his novel For the Term of his Natural Life.- Biography :...
’s For the Term of His Natural Life
For the Term of his Natural Life
For the Term of His Natural Life, written by Marcus Clarke, was published in the Australian Journal between 1870 and 1872 , appearing as a novel in 1874. It is the best known novelisation of life as a convict in early Australian history...
. It performed in Strahan in 1993 for eight weeks, in a woodchop arena, aboard yachts, on Sarah Island, outside the Strahan Pub, and even at the Mount Lyell
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on the 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as Mount Lyell. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in Queenstown, Tasmania.Following consolidation of...
Picnic on the beach. During the play a mock ship is built on the stage with the actors utilising audience members, including children, for additional characters in the play.
The Ship That Never Was performs every day and has exceeded 5000 performances; the Company undertook the daily task of providing Guided Tours on Sarah Island, and made dramatic performances in the form of a guided tour, of which four were sometimes organized in one day. In 1998, as a contribution to the supportive community, the Company undertook to operate the Strahan Visitor Centre, curating the exhibition created by Robert Morris Nunn and Richard Flanagan
Richard Flanagan
Richard Flanagan is a novelist from Tasmania, Australia.-Early life:Flanagan was born in Longford, Tasmania, in 1961, the fifth of six children. He is descended from Irish convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land in the 1840s. His father is a survivor of the Burma Death Railway. One of his three...
, and providing information to tourists.
The Round Earth Theatre Company operated a performing/information/guiding company year-round in a town of 800 permanent residents with an annual turnover of nearly a million Australian dollars; the new company subsidised the increasingly expensive operation of the Visitors Centre and in 2005 shed the operation of the Strahan Visitor Centre.
In 2002 the Company expanded its fledgling publication services (information booklets) to publish The Sarah island Conspiracies by Richard Davey (2002) and The Travails of Jimmy Porter (2003), the memoir written on Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
in 1842 by James Porter, one of the leaders of the escape on the Frederick.