''The Drover’s Wife'' is a play by

Leah Purcell Leah Maree Purcell (born 14 August 1970) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's ''Somewhere in the Darkness'', which led to role ...

, loosely based on the classic short story of the same name by

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...

published in 1892.

Synopsis

The title character, Molly Johnson, is a heavily pregnant woman living in a remote homestead in the Snowy Mountains, whose husband spends long periods away as a drover. She encounters Yadaka, an Aboriginal man on the run from colonial authorities. Over a few days, a series of events occur which change their lives forever.

Productions

The play premiered at the

Belvoir St Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-seat ...

in Sydney from 17 September to 16 October 2016, directed by Leticia Càceres and produced by Belvoir. The cast included Purcell in the title role,

Mark Coles Smith Mark Coles Smith (born 1989) is an Indigenous Australian actor originally from Broome in Western Australia. He is known for his roles in '' Last Cab to Darwin'' (2015), '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (2018) and '' Occupation: Rainfall'' (2020), a ...

, Tony Cogin, Benedict Hardie, and Will McDonald.

Critical reception

The play and the original production were widely acclaimed.

Awards

''The Drover's Wife'' has received multiple awards, including the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting and the overall Book of the Year at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, and the Prize for Drama and the overall Victorian Prize for Literature at the

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary p ...

. The play was named Best New Australian Work, and the Belvoir production Best Mainstage Production, at the Sydney Theatre Awards in January 2017. It received the national

Helpmann Award for Best Play The Helpmann Award for Best Play is a theatre award, presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA) at the annual Helpmann Awards since 2001. The award is for a production of a play, which may be a new work or a revival of an existing work. This ...

and Best New Australian Work in July 2017. At the

AWGIE Awards The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previou ...

in August 2017, ''The Drover's Wife'' received the Major Award across all writing for performance genres, the Stage award and the David Williamson Prize for excellence in writing for Australian theatre.

Film adaptation

The play was adapted into a 2021 film, also written and directed by Purcell.

Synopsis

Productions

Critical reception

Awards

Film adaptation

See also

References

Further reading