This is an absorbing, insightful and intriguing play.
While recounting an early colonial history in the Australian Felix, Geoffrey Sykes merges with the more contemporary outlook into an ever-present philosophical enquiry into an Australian identity, its values, and ethics.
He has forged ahead with an honest and imperious view that reflects on the penitentiary system, Australian contact history, and the ravages of white settlement.
The emotional complexities and moral dilemmas are part of it all.
This unique play reopens some critical questions about who can tell and how do we understand our shared history.
Sykes play fills in the blanks of inherited stories about Australian past and convict
gestured to a wider story with some ever-challenging identity and moral questions on being an Australian.
This is a work of great importance, beautifully written and impossible to ignore.
AUSTRALIA FELIX had a brief season at the Chippen Street Theatre with three performances; Friday 8th December at 7.30pm and Saturday 9th December, 2023 at 2pm and 7.30pm.
Review by Jolanta Hildebrandt-Mazurek
