21 November 2005
The Secret River
|
by Kate Grenville
Abridged by Gail MacCallum
After a childhood of poverty and petty crime in the slums of London, William Thornhill is sentenced in 1806 to be transported to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. With his wife Sal and children in tow, he arrives in a harsh land that feels at first like a death sentence. But among the convicts there is a whisper that freedom can be bought, an opportunity to start a fresh. Away from the infant township of Sydney, up the Hawkesbury River, are white men who have tried to do just that: Thomas Blackwood is attempting to reconcile himself with the place and its Aboriginal inhabitants, while Smasher Sullivan's fear of this alien world turns into a form of brutal depravity. As Thornhill and his family stake their claim on a patch of ground by the river, the battle lines between old and new are drawn.
Sound Engineer: Judy Rapley
Producer/director: Anne Wynter
Concludes December 16
