What the river remembers: Theatricality and embodied knowledge in performing 'The secret river'

This article considers the politics of remembering violence in relation to the contested matter of the Frontier Wars between Aboriginal people and settlers in 19th century colonial Australia. It argues that remembering violence is political when it is a question of whose memories constitute a dominant cultural memory and whose are left unspoken or subjected to doubt. If the dominant cultural memory of Australian settlement celebrates gold-diggers, explorers, squatters, pioneers, emancipists, convicts, bushrangers and exceptional white women, it disremembers the experience of Aboriginal people. Of late, works of Australian film, literature and drama have played a key role in challenging dominant cultural representations of nation-building. In this article, I analyze the 2013 theatrical adaptation and performance of Kate Grenville's novel The Secret River (2005) by writer Andrew Bovell and the creative team at the Sydney Theatre Company, including directors Neil Armfield and Stephen Page.