It's not terribly common for a new Australian play - let alone an Indigenous one - to get a major professional revival only three years after its debut.
But Muruwari playwright Jane Harrison's The Visitors, which premiered at the 2020 Sydney Festival, has not only been brought to the stage in a new production, but it's on tour.
Quandamooka man Wesley Enoch programmed the original as artistic director of the 2020 festival and for this all-new revival - co-produced by Sydney Theatre Company and Moogahlin Performing Arts - he stepped into the director's chair.
The Visitors, which had its first Canberra performance on Wednesday night, is set on a hot day in January 1788. Seven clan leaders are gathered on an escarpment overlooking what will become known as Sydney Harbour.
A mysterious group of ships - later to be known as the First Fleet - is coming and the seven representatives must make a decision.
Should they send the strangers on their way or welcome them?
It has to be unanimous.
Harrison was inspired in part by Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Men, about the deliberations of a jury, Enoch said.
In both works a group of people are discussing evidence and proof, and rights and wrongs, and possibilities.
"It's about people trying to find the truth," Enoch said.
There's questioning and arguing as facts and opinions are raised and discussed.
"Different people change their minds at different times," Enoch said.
They recall the encounter, 18 years earlier, with another group of white men who arrived by ship.
Will this time be the same, or different?
In the original production all seven actors were men - this time two of the roles are played by women. It's not just a token gesture.
"My people are matriarchal," Enoch said.
That wasn't the only change made in this production, which has a completely different cast and set and lighting design, and includes more Aboriginal dialogue than before.
"Most people will get what the meaning is," Enoch said.
"It moves into English very quickly."
This production of The Visitors closed in Sydney the night it was announced the Voice referendum had been defeated.
"I think the play is our voice in many ways," Enoch said.
"Telling our stories is very important to me."
Canberra will be the final destination in 2023 but Enoch said it appeared there would be other venues scheduled next year.
The Visitors is on at the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre until November 11. See: canberratheatrecentre.com.au
