'They hurried us aboard a barge, and carried us miles out to sea, where they had prepared a rotten carcass of a boat, with no sails or masts or ropes – even the rats had the sense to abandon it.'
A chaotic storm erupts. A disastrous shipwreck ensues. Refugees Prospero, Miranda and Ariel are washed ashore on Christmas Island seeking asylum in Australia. Miranda connects with Caliban, a Christmas Island local who transforms from rescuer to detention centre guard. Detained by authorities, Prospero and Ariel summon life-changing forces, risking everything in pursuit of freedom.
Opening with the SIEV 221 shipwreck of 2010, This Rough Magic is an exhilarating epic of power reckoning, survival and the cost of pursuing the promise of a better life. A contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare's The Tempest for our time, the play conjures an island of strange sounds and wondrous sights, enigmatic characters and surprising relationships.
Helen Machalias has created a fast-moving drama spiked with humour where 'brave new world' poetry collides with 'stop the boats' rhetoric and interpolations of Persian poetry, philosophy and storytelling to deliver a radically different representation of offshore detention.
HELEN MACHALIAS is a Sydney-based playwright. Her most recent work is This Rough Magic, which premiered in 2023 at The Street Theatre and reimagines the 2010 Christmas Island Siev XXI refugee boat disaster through the prism of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. She has previously worked with The Street Theatre to develop a stage adaptation of Robin Klein’s People Might Hear You, as well as In Loco Parentis, which examined the cover-up of sexual harassment and assault on university campuses. In Loco Parentis premiered at The Street as part of the Made in Canberra program for the Centenary of Canberra and won a Canberra Critics Circle Award. Helen has worked with Sydney Theatre Company, Riverside Theatres and Playwriting Australia, and she has been shortlisted for Sydney Theatre Company’s Young Playwright of the Year Award three times.
| Cast Info | 2F, 3M, 2O, (doubling available) |
| Genres | Drama |
| Themes | Full length play, Multicultural themes, Political/Social themes |
| Audiences | Adult |
| Extent | 72 |
| Edition | CTS |
| Size | 137 x 210 mm |
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