“Rainbow’s End” by Jane Harrison is a play set in the 1950s that follows the lives of three generations of Aboriginal women: Nan Dear, her daughter Gladys, and her granddaughter Dolly. Living in a riverside shanty near Shepparton, Victoria, the Dear family navigates the challenges of racial segregation and dispossession. The play highlights their struggles for decent housing, education, and community acceptance. A significant subplot involves Dolly’s relationship with Errol, a white salesman, which brings to light the complexities of interracial relationships during that era.The play also adresses broader themes of resilience, family bonds, and the fight for indigenous rights.
Summarised by CoPilot, from Art of Smart
Jane Harrison is descended from the Muruwari people of NSW and is an award-winning playwright and author. Her play The Visitors premiered at Sydney Festival in 2020 in a sold-out season and won the 2022 Sydney Critics Award for Best New Australian Work. Her first play Stolen played across Australia and internationally for seven years, Rainbow’s End was on the NSW English curriculum 2016 – 2021 and won the 2012 Drover Award. Jane’s YA novel Becoming Kirrali Lewis won the 2014 Black & Write! Prize and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and the Victorian Premier’s Awards. Jane writes about belonging and identity.
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