Nathan Maynard’s new play The Season takes us to Dog Island, just off the coast of Tasmania, and into the world of an Indigenous family who are making their annual pilgrimage there for the mutton-bird harvest, just as their ancestors have done since time immemorial.

^{Tammy Anderson, Luke Carroll, Kelton Pell, Lisa Maza, James Slee, Nazaree Dickerson. Photo by Prudence Upton}

Writing in the theatre programme, Maynard explains that he himself comes from “a proud birding family” who belong to a community known as “the mutton-bird people”. And in writing about what he knows, Maynard gives us a big-hearted drama that feels like an authentic slice of life.

A co-presentation by Tasmania Performs and Sydney Opera House, The Season makes its world premiere at the Sydney Festival where it has a short season.

Sweetly loving older couple Ben Duncan (Kelton Pell) and his wife Stella (Tammy Anderson) have returned once more to Dog Island for the mutton-bird harvest. Suspecting that they may not have that many seasons left in them, Ben is determined to harvest more than his neighbour and arch rival Neil Watson (Trevor Jamieson) and sell them to a flash restaurant.

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