Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

A decorative pageant that would appeal to civic grandees: The Secret River reviewed

Plus: traces of magic from an invective-filled play at the Donmar Warehouse

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  • The Secret River

    Olivier Theatre, until 7 September

  • Appropriate

    Donmar Warehouse, until 5 October

The Secret River opens in a fertile corner of New South Wales in the early 1800s. William, a cockney pauper transported to Australia for theft, receives a pardon from the governor and decides to plant a crop on 100 acres of Aboriginal land. His doting wife, Sal, begs him to take her and their young sons back to her beloved London.

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