Richard Innes Davey (4 November 1938 – 13 March 2013) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

actor, director and writer. He was the founder of the Round Earth Company and advocate for the understanding of the

Macquarie Harbour Penal Station The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement, established on Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour, in the former colony of Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, operated between 1822 and 1833. The settlement housed ma ...

on Sarah Island on the West Coast of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. Earlier he had been artistic director of The Hole in the Wall Theatre in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Western Australia from 1969 -1971.

Work

Over ten years of the Round Earth Theatre Company at Strahan, and work on Sarah Island as a guide, Davey's work has had significance in helping tourists understand the penal station and its context, where previously there had been scattered and not very accessible research. '' The Ship that Never Was'', written by Davey, is Australia's longest-running play, with over 5,000 performances and continuing to be performed nightly at Strahan; it is about the Frederick escape, the successful escape of 10 convicts from Sarah Island to Chile. His book ''The Sarah Island Conspiracies: Being an account of twelve voyages to Macquarie Harbour and Sarah Island'', which was short listed for a major prize in Hobart in 2005, complements the work of Richard Flanagan's '' Gould's Book of Fish''. They both use the painting by

William Buelow Gould William Buelow Gould (1801 – 11 December 1853) was an English and Van Diemonian (Tasmanian) painter. He was transported to Australia as a convict in 1827, after which he would become one of the most important early artists in the colony, des ...

of the

Weedy sea dragon The common seadragon or weedy seadragon (''Phyllopteryx taeniolatus'') is a marine fish related to the seahorses. Adult common seadragons are a reddish colour, with yellow and purple markings; they have small leaf-like appendages that resemble ...

on the covers of their books. Davey's long lasting interest in Shakespeare's ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...

'' saw production in November 2007 of an adaptation ''The Madness of King Lear'' in Hobart, Tasmania. Davey died on 13 March 2013 after a long battle with illness.

Audio recordings

Plays

* (1982) Tell 'em you're Maoris (Put Your Boots On) * (1983) Broken Dreams * (1984) The Ship That Never Was * (1984) Hallelujah Lady Jane * (1986) Guarding the Perimeter * (1986) Scapegoats * (1986) A Cry From The Heart * (1986) The Catfish that cried * (1986) Hook's Mountain * (1995) A Bright and Crimson Flower * (2004) The Case Of The Missing Rations

Books

* * * Davey, Richard, (2002) ''The Sarah Island conspiracies : being an account of twelve voyages made by one G.K. to Macquarie Harbour on the western coast of Van Diemens Land 1822-1833'' Strahan, Tas. : Round Earth Co., (Reproduction of a memoir dated 1896 authored by an anonymous clerk G.K. )

Work

See also

Audio recordings

Plays

Books

References

Further reading