Abstract

Andrew Bovell's play depicts the lead-up to and immediate aftermath of a massacre of Australian Aborigines. In so doing, it forcefully demonstrates a continuity of injustice and its aftermath in the present. It insists that there are painful and injurious continuities in Australian history that must be confronted if they are to be healed. How the script employs allusions and parallels to do so is the business of this paper. The article also treats the script as a contribution to Australia's 'History Wars', a struggle among intellectuals and politicians about how far history should influence present action.