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Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan, directed by Neil Armfield, receives its Sydney premiere this week at the Sydney Opera House, bringing the story of the homophobic murder of a South Australian man that lead to a significant change in Australian law to operatic life.

Tim Reeves, the show’s Historical Consultant, and playwright Alan Valentine, the show’s co-librettist, took some time out to help set the scene and answer some questions about the Adelaide Festival hit.

Q: To start, Tim, can you give us some of the history of Dr George Duncan and the events that inspired the opera. What was Australia like in the early 70s, especially in relation to its views on homosexuality?

TIM: Male homosexuality was still a major social taboo in Australia, and sexual acts between men were criminalised in every state and territory with the possibility of jail time. In South Australia, having sex even in the privacy of one’s own home was illegal. Many homosexual men met at beats, covert public spaces where there was always the risk of being bashed. Dr Duncan was killed at the River Torrens beat in Adelaide on 10 May 1972 after being thrown in by a group of men and drowned. Soon after a first private member’s bill was introduced into state parliament to decriminalise male homosexual acts, but it was watered down. In 1975 South Australia became the first Australian jurisdiction to embrace full decriminalisation.

Q: His murder became the catalysing incident for the LGBT movement in South Australia, leading to it becoming the first state in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality but, to me, it feels like it’s a piece of our queer history we don’t discuss enough. Has it been overlooked? Or do I just have an East Coast bias?

TIM: I am concerned that especially young queer Australian people are not aware that a horrible murder of a gay man over 50 years ago in South Australia was the trigger for dramatic legal and social changes, that eventually spread to other states and territories (Tasmania was the last to enact decriminalisation, in 1997). The many freedoms that the LGBTIQA+ community enjoys today is on the back of that shameful event. We should never forget Dr Duncan, a quiet and unassuming law academic whose violent and senseless death ultimately ricocheted around the nation. 

Q: We’re in a time when LGBTQ rights are being challenged and conservative politicians are targeting trans Australians. Are we sliding back to those dark times of the early 70s?

TIM: There are many countries in the world – including in Africa and Europe, but especially America – where hard-fought LGBTIQA+ rights are being wound back. It’s so bad in America that some states are removing queer books from libraries. We are nowhere near that here in Australia. Yet while we have achieved marriage equality and other advances we should never be complacent. We must stand proud and resolute.  

Q: Alana, when did you get involved in co-writing the libretto? How was it working with Christos Tsiolkas? How did that collaboration work on a practical level – did you write together or bounce ideas/versions between you?

ALANA: I was asked to write the libretto by Neil Armfield. His vision was always that I would write it with Christos Tsiolkas. On a practical level we met many times and talked about what our values, perspectives, memories and aesthetic priorities were. Christos had never co-written a libretto before whereas I had written Barbara and the Camp Dogs with Ursula Yovich so I had some hard won wisdom about creating a successful collaborative process. Christos is a bold, imaginative thinker and a passionate artist so it was a great joy to work with him and we are both very proud of the libretto we have created.

Q: How is writing a libretto different to writing a traditional play? What were the challenges with the form?

ALANA: It really is totally different writing a libretto, different to writing a traditional play because the musical form makes different emotional demands and story arcs. In both writing the book for a musical and writing a libretto for opera you realise that the story beats have to be bold and intense because there is a different time scale in relation to character and plot. Being a librettist is even very different to being a songwriter because a librettist’s songs need to move the story forward and contribute to the whole piece of the drama. A librettist is a really a songwriter combined with a dramatist.

Q: Watershed was first staged in Adelaide in 2022 (marking the 50th anniversary of the murder). How do you feel looking back at its creation with a bit of distance?

ALANA: We are very proud of how much the Adelaide gay, lesbian and queer community got behind us to tell this story. Christos and I went to a wonderful event put on by the Rainbow Hub of COTA, which is the South Australian Council on the Ageing. Many of the attendees had been part of the very hard activist fight to urge SA toward the global change of decriminalising homosexuality. They told us the most amazing stories and were fully supportive of our creative endeavours. We also went to a commemorative event that is held annually to remember Duncan by the young adults who run the University of Adelaide Pride Club on campus. Because the University is right on the banks of the Torrens River, into which Duncan was thrown and drowned, it was a particularly poignant event and Christos and I were both overwhelmed by the huge commitment to honouring Duncan’s memory that they undertake every year.

In 2022 the commemoration was a special event because it was fifty years since his death so Christos and I spoke at the event and then, with all the gathered crowd, young and old, queer and others who remembered those terrible events of 1972, we walked along the river to the Don Dunstan Playhouse and watched the premiere of the work. I can’t tell you how thrilled Christos and I were to have the support of both generations – those who lived through it and fought the good fight and those young adults who continue to fight, speak up and honour the hard won battles of the past. It really was a highlight of my working life to be involved with the focus and commitment of all these people – this huge community – who all made this change happen.  

Q: Has there been any tinkering on show since its debut?

ALANA: No, audiences will see the work exactly as it was performed in Adelaide. 

Q: This is your second piece to play in Sydney this year, after Send For Nellie in the Sydney Festival (and touring). Have you had a chance to slow down at all? What’s coming next for you?

ALANA: Apart from Send For Nellie I directed and wrote a work for Brandenburg Orchestra called Notre Dame which premiered in Melbourne and then played in Sydney. I also co-wrote Baleen Moondjan with Stephen Page which launched the Adelaide Festival in 2024. In June I published Wed By the Wayside with Pantera Press, a creative non-fiction memoir based on my stage play Wayside Bride and I am the writer on erth’s arc, a visual and physical theatre show for children with the most amazing puppets (all endangered animals) which is about to embark on a 40 venue tour around Australia. So I am really enjoying 2024 and just trying to make a living as a queer freelance artist in this country! Please come to see one of my shows in 2025.

Thank you both for your time and insight.

Watershed: The Death of Dr Duncan plays at the Sydney Opera House from June 14-16, 2024.