25/08/2026
Out now! The Shiralee, adapted by the brilliant Kate Mulvany from the novel by D'Arcy Niland.
Macauley is a swagman earning his keep by prize-fighting his way across the country. Far away in Sydneyâs Kings Cross, his almost ten-year-old daughter Buster lives with her lonely mother Marge, who is struggling to make ends meet. When Macauley returns home one night to find Marge in bed with another man, and Buster drunk on sherry, he throws Buster over his shoulder and takes her into his unforgiving lifestyle as a swagman on the open road. Encountering the landâs custodians, settlers, drifters and authorities on their travels in search of work, Buster begins to understand not only the complexity of Australia but also of her father Macauley. In return, Mac learns about his daughter and her own place in the worldâa father and child walking together under a vast Southern sky.
Tenderly adapted from DâArcy Nilandâs historic novel, award-winning playwright, actress and screenwriter Kate Mulvany returns with the same storytelling mastery that charmed us in her adaptations of The Harp in the South and Playing Beatie Bow.
âMulvany doesnât just apply depth, she also adds breadth, reaching beyond the novel to include a few more stories that wouldnât or couldnât be written down so freely at the time.â â Guardian Australia
âBreathes new life into a classic Australian story. One that has now, surely, become an Australian classic play.ââ The Scoop AU
Pick up a copy now: https://www.currency.com.au/books/the-shiralee
