Temporal setting: 1897
Location notes:
The Governor's Family takes place at Government House in New South Wales in 1897. The house is located in a clearing, with most of the characters reluctant to leave the Victorian home and explore the unknown terrain beyond the clearing. Only the indigenous character Frances and the poet Gerald interact with the Australian landscape beyond the clearing and the grounds of the House.
The play is loosely based upon the events of the Mount Rennie Case, a highly controversial gang rape which occurred in 1886 in Sydney. Public reaction to the case was divisively split, and the crime was the first and only of its kind to lead to a full conviction in the 1880s. For more information see https://scratchingsydneyssurface.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/18-june-2010-the-mount-rennie-outrage/
During the time period in which the play is set, the governor's residence was located in the same building as present day Government House. The Governor of NSW at the time of the Mount Rennie case was Lord Carrington. For more information on the residences and appointments of NSW Governors see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_House,_Sydney
Quotes
Government House. HELENA's room.
GERALD: They've finished clearing. You can see as far as the big bay from the garden. From the verandah.
HELENA: Even after they've cut down every tree it will stay a wilderness.
(p. Act 1, Scene 4, page 25)
GERALD: Out past the clearing, everything proliferates itself. Watching us. Waiting. For us to sail away again. It's been here forever. We'll never get the better of it. That's what I love. If you were to cross those hills, you'd be swallowed up. Not even a tiny bone would be hiccupped back out.
HOWARD: Not a sensation that appeals to all of us.
(p. Act 2, Scene 3, page 80)
