Queensland Theatre and Belloo Creative present the world premiere of Back to Bilo as part of Brisbane Festival 2025 – an affecting work of verbatim theatre about the Nadesalingam family and the community that fought to bring them home to Biloela.

Nades and Priya arrived separately in Australia as Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers. They went on to marry, settle and have two daughters in the small Queensland town of Biloela. When the family were taken into custody by the Australian Border Force in a 2018 dawn raid, a day after their visas lapsed, their community was in disbelief.

Friends and neighbours launched a campaign to bring them “Home to Bilo,” which soon gained momentum across Australia. Even so, the family spent four years in detention, including two years on Christmas Island. By the time they were released, their youngest daughter had spent more than half her life in detention. In 2022, the family were granted permanent residency and resettled in Biloela.

Back to Bilo is written by Belloo Creative co-founder Katherine Lyall-Watson, from an original concept by Matt Scholten, who began working with the Biloela community and conducting initial...