D’Arcy Niland’s debut novel The Shiralee struck a chord with Australian audiences when it was published in 1955. The bestselling book – and its unflattering depiction of Australian masculinity and fatherhood – quickly became a classic and raked in plaudits both here and abroad.

The 1957 film by British director Leslie Norman, starring Peter Finch and Dana Wilson, stopped country NSW in its tracks when it was filmed in rural Binnaway (where they talk about it still). The mini-series of the same name, starring Bryan Brown, Rebecca Smart and Noni Hazlehurst, was the most-watched television show in Australia in 1988.

Sydney Theatre Company’s The Shiralee. Photo © Prudence Upton

This stage adaptation by Kate Mulvany for the Sydney Theatre Company – with its subtly introduced Indigenous and queer characters – is likely to become a classic of this country’s modern-day theatre canon. Seventy years since it was first published, Australia is still grappling with its sense of masculinity and misogyny, but this play’s portrayal of blokey bush culture – complete with bully beef, damper, billy tea and swagmen – shows us just...