The Secret River (play)

The Secret River is a play by Australian playwright Andrew Bovell, based upon the novel of the same name by Kate Grenville.

Synopsis
Narrated by Dhirrumbin (originally played by Ursula Yovich), the drama is about a man who is exiled from London in the eighteenth century, and is sent with his family to a penal colony in the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales, where he hopes to make a new start, but its Indigenous inhabitants, the Dharug people, are not willing to give up their land.

Performances
Produced by the Sydney Theatre Company, the play was first performed on 8 January 2013 at the Sydney Theatre.

A 2016 remount toured Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

In March 2017, a co-production of the State Theatre Company of South Australia and the Sydney Theatre Company, co-directed by Neil Armfield and Geordie Brookman, was staged at Anstey Hill Quarry as part of the Adelaide Festival. The show was a record-breaking success, selling out all performances over its 18 nights, with an audience of 800 each night.

English settlers

 * William Thornhill,
 * Sal Thornhill, William’s wife
 * Willie Thornhill, William and Sal's eldest son
 * Dick Thornhill, William and Sal's second son
 * Smasher Sullivan, a settler on the Hawkesbury River
 * Thomas Blackwood, an ex-convict and tradesmen
 * Loveday, a settler on the Hawkesbury River
 * Dan Oldfield, Williams childhood friend
 * Mrs Herring, a mid-wife and nurse
 * Sagitty Birtles, Smasher Sullivan's crony
 * Captain Suckling, alcoholic and landowner

Dharug people

 * Dhirrumbin, a guide
 * Dulla Djin
 * Gillyagan
 * Muruli
 * Garraway, friend of Dick
 * Yalamundi, elder of the tribe
 * Buryia, female tribe elder
 * Ngalamalum
 * Wangarra, tribal warrior
 * Branyimala, tribal warrior
 * Narabi, friend of Dick
 * Turnkey

Original cast

 * Nathaniel Dean - William Thornhill
 * Anita Hegh - Sal Thornhill
 * Jeremy Sims - Smasher Sullivan
 * Colin Moody - Thomas Blackwood
 * Ursula Yovich - Dhirrumbin/Dulla Djin
 * Miranda Tapsell - Gillyagan/Muruli
 * Bruce Spence - Loveday
 * Bailey Doomadgee and Kamil Ellis - Garraway
 * Lachlan Elliott and Callum McManis - Willie Thornhill
 * Rory Potter and Tom Usher - Dick Thornhill
 * Roy Gordon - Yalamundi
 * Daniel Henshall - Dan Oldfield
 * Ethel-Anne Gundy – Buryia
 * Trevor Jamieson - Ngalamalum
 * Rhimi Johnson Page - Wangarra/Branyimala
 * Judith McGrath - Mrs Herring
 * James Slee - Narabi
 * Matthew Sunderland - Sagitty Birtles/ Captain Suckling/Turnkey
 * Source: