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The Chosen Vessel

The Chosen Vessel

Based on the short story by Barbara Baynton
By Dylan Van Den Berg
ISBN
9781761731648
Publisher
Currency Press
Publication Date
7 August 2025
Edition
CTS
Format
Paperback
Availability
Available
Categories
Plays
$25.99
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Description

'I thought about trickin' him, about givin' him an idea of where I might be - usin' my voice.'

A young Aboriginal woman—made a mother against her will—lives in the bush, cocooned by Country she understands and trusts. When a Swagman arrives, seeking food and water, her fears about the white 'ghosts' who occupy the land unfurl as a horrifying reality. From award-winning Palawa playwright, Dylan Van Den Berg (Milk, Whitefella Yella Tree, Way Back When), comes an Aboriginal Gothic Horror and bold adaptation – a radical reimagining of Barbara Baynton's 'The Chosen Vessel'. This alternate version of Baynton's classic Australian story provokes us to reflect on what we choose to see – and what we wilfully ignore.

'[Van Den Berg] writes with a voice that demands to be heard and a spirit that compels engagement.' – Peter Wilkins, The Canberra Times

Biography
Dylan Van Den Berg
Dylan Van Den Berg

DYLAN VAN DEN BERG is a Palawa writer and dramaturg, with family connections to the northeast of Tasmania and the Bass Strait Islands. He has held residencies at Sydney Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company, and was a participant in ILBIJERRI’s BlackWrights program for First Nations dramaturgs. His play Whitefella Yella Tree premiered at Griffin Theatre Company to much acclaim, receiving an Australian Writer’s Guild Award for Best Original Play and the David Williamson Prize for Australian Writing. Other plays include Way Back When (The Old Fitz), Milk (The Street Theatre), Ngadjung (Belco Arts, Canberra), The Camel (Motley Bauhaus), The Chosen Vessel (The Street Theatre), All that Glitters is Not Mould (NIDA), and The Flood (National Theatre of Parramatta). He is a two-time recipient of the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting at the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, one time winner of the Victorian Premier’s Award for Drama, and was shortlisted for the UK’s Bruntwood International Award for Playwriting. He studied theatre at the ANU and the State University of New York, and completed a PhD in Aboriginal Gothic theatre at the University of Canberra.

Dylan Van Den Berg's Other Books (2)
Book Data
Cast Info 1F, 1M, (doubling available)
Genres Adaptations, Australian History, Surreal/magic realism, Drama
Themes Two-hander, Political/Social themes, First Nations
Audiences Adult
Extent 70
Edition CTS
Size 137 x 210 mm
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