Wonderlands

Winner of the 2003 Rodney Seaborn Playwright’s Award. In 1931, Alice, a white station owner, goes riding with her Aboriginal head stockman and friend, Jim. During the course of the afternoon, they come to an agreement about the running of the property, “Ambertrue”, and its ownership. Many years later, in an environment of paranoia fed by misinformation, Alice’s great nephew Lon is running Ambertrue. When Lon receives a letter announcing a native title claim in the area, he is terrified that his dream of passing the family property on to his son-in-law will be shattered. Wonderlands is a political thriller that deals with the thorny issues of Native Title and Pastoral Leases. It takes a writer of Thomson’s calibre to take this subject matter and create a play that is as much about love, friendship and belonging as it is about one of the big issues of our time. Angela Chaplin and Katherine Thomson have formed one of the most creative and productive relationships in the Australian theatre community today. Their productions include deckchair theatre‘s much loved Mavis Goes To Timor.