Charcoal Creek June 5, 2012

It’s 1875. And in a small township on the South Coast of NSW,
something terrible is about to happen...

A stirring new work by award-winning playwright Marcel Dorney, Charcoal Creek is a chilling, moving and ultimately revealing story about the extraordinary power of ignorance and fear
Newcomers to Charcoal Creek, Edward and Charlotte are newlyweds and recently arrived from England. Brigid, the wife of local dairy farmer Tom is having nightmares - premonitions of something terrible - and wants her new neighbours gone. Each of their lives will be irrevocably changed by the events of one terrifying night...

In the late 19th century, the Illawarra played host to one of the first incidents of violent resistance by white Australians to new arrivals at a place called Charcoal Creek, now known as Unanderra (a suburb south of Wollongong). Inspired by this historical footnote, this new work examines how a community can descend into prejudice and hatred, and how ordinary people can allow terrible things to happen. Charcoal Creek draws on the forces of class, Darwinism, and the Industrial Revolution to explore the impact of change and development on the forging of the Australian psyche.