Public Reading of In-Development script - on the life of Irish woman Daisy Bates
A public reading of I Am Mrs Daisy Bates, presented by Speckintime.
The script-in-development will be presented at Riverbank Arts Centre on Thursday October 26th at 12.30pm.
This is a free event and all interested parties are welcome to attend.
Speckintime is developing a piece of theatre based on the extraordinary life of Irish woman Daisy Bates. There has been extensive research on the life of Daisy Bates with the aid of a number of international academics.
This project has been supported by Arts Council of Ireland, Australia Council of the Arts, Project Arts Centre, Kildare County Council, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, Riverbank Arts Centre and Irish Theatre Institute.
Jane Harrison is an indigenous Australian playwright, novelist and researcher. Her involvement as Aboriginal Consultant for this project is thanks to a recommendation by Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature. The Australian Council for the Arts is funding the international collaboration of Jane Harrison and Speckintime.
WHO WAS DAISY BATES?
Daisy Bates was born in Co. Tipperary, Ireland in 1859, emigrating to Australia twenty-three years later. She worked as a governess, managed to marry three times without ever divorcing and had one child. However, she is best known for her decision to devote over 40 years of her life studying Aboriginal people - their history, culture, beliefs and customs. Living in a tent in remote settlements from Western Australia to the edge of the Nullarbor Plain, she wrote books, hundreds of academic papers and countless observations on the subject.
Her accounts, among the first attempts at a serious study of Aboriginal culture, were published by anthropological and geographical societies in Australia and overseas.
