Working with Victorian Opera’s adaptation of Jane Harrison’s ‘The Visitors’ was an honour I could not have predicted occurring in my career. Based on the conceit of ‘12 Angry Men’, Harrison aligns her audience with the perspectives of local Elders meeting on site as the First Fleet appeared on the horizons of their land, over 200 years ago. Debate rages whilst temperatures and tempers rise; to welcome or to war with these uninvited newcomers? But that’s the thing about visitors; they always leave…
From sitting in the workshop week in early January, 2023, to post-production debriefs with Victorian senior school students about the importance of embedding thorough and authentic First Nations education into mainstream Australian curriculum, this experience was deeply humbling.
I collaborated with Victorian Opera’s Tim Ryan on the creation of a series of digital workshops designed to engage students from years 7-10 in the creation of their own librettos, blocking maps and mood boards. Click here for a glimpse of the footage.
