Linden Wilkinson – November 29 2020

Glenbrook rail disaster – December 2 1999

Linden is a playwright, theatre maker, performer, lecturer and researcher. She holds three Bachelor’s degrees, one Master’s and two PhDs. Linden is perhaps best known for her recurring role as Mumma Rose in Home and Away. She has also appeared in Prisoner: Cell Block H, A Country Practice, Water Rats, Packed to the Rafters and Looking for Alibrandi. Linden has worked extensively in State Theatre Companies in Adelaide, Melbourne and Auckland, some of her credits being A Day in December, Family Favourites, Happy House Show, Nice Girls and Night of the Missing Bridegroom. She began writing and script-editing for television series such as Ocean Girl and Outriders, and has also written for two feature films, Moon River, an adaptation of the novel by Brenda Walker of the same name, and Pearls, a romantic comedy. Her other writing includes This Fella My Memory; Sleeping Partners, written in collaboration with Aileen O’Sullivan; Agnes & the Little Lost Elks; Fifteen Consequences of an Unexpected Death and The Saturday Night Club.

Photo: Mugy – Own Work

Remembering Glenbrook
Full length play; 2 female, 5 male
Remembering Glenbrook is a verbatim play about the Glenbrook rail disaster in which seven people were instantly killed when their commuter train crashed into the back of the stationary Indian Pacific on one of the “Glenbrook bends”. Fifty-one people went to hospital immediately after the event but the statistics don’t tell the complex, lingering truth of the experience. The text uses edited stories told by some of the people involved interwoven with evidence from the Public Inquiry. The play begins with the participants expressing their strong connection to the beauty of the Blue Mountains and sharing their memories of boarding the train. It then traces the series of mishaps and miscommunications that led to the collision and finally, for all those involved – passengers, partners, rescue workers – the play sheds light on their long, slow, deeply personal yet always inspiring roads to healing.

Today We’re Alive
Playlab, 2014; ISBN 9781921390685
Full length; 4 female, 4 male (suggested doubling of some roles)
The Myall Creek Massacre of 1838 was a significant event in Australia’s history. For the first time, the white perpetrators of the systematic murder of Aboriginal people were tried and convicted of their crimes. Today We’re Alive is a verbatim play about the efforts, over 100 years later, to create a fitting memorial to this event, which led to a powerful experience of reconciliation and healing for the descendents of the victims and murderers alike.
Ngiyani winangay ganunga. We Remember Them.
Includes Education Pack with in-class learning experiences and activities.