The garden of an Australian country estate, the sixtieth bithday celebrations of
patriarch and scientist Clarrie Shelton, the “tribal get-together” of the family,
the comings and goings of their friends and relations over an Easter weekend
that begins at twilight and ends at sunrise. In this foreboding atmosphere of
privilege and pleasure Louis Nowra explores the mysterious chasm between
what we do and what we dream and say. The family of a pastoralist gather for
his 60th birthday and revive old loves and fears. Unspoken disorders flare up
with the suddenness of a bushfire, doing violence to the people and the land.
Publ. Current theatre series with Lighthouse.
Published by Currency Press 1983
