Story of Chinese miners still resonates

27 January 2012

A new play shows that the challenges facing migrants in Australia today are much the same as they were 150 years ago.

The Quiet Brother, funded with help from the City of Sydney's local community grants program, explores the challenges and hostility Chinese migrants faced on the goldfields of south west NSW in the 1860s, which culminated in a series of violent anti-Chinese demonstrations known as the Lambing Flat riots.

Sydney actor-playwright Ivy Mak, from Australasian Art and Stageworks, developed The Quiet Brother for the Harden Shire Gold Trail Festival, but expanded it for a short run at Belvoir Street Theatre to coincide with the 2012 Sydney Chinese New Year Festival.

A one-hour preview of the play will also launch the Library Up Late: Saucy Sydney! program at Customs House Library - a new two-month series of free evening events including readings, performances, story-telling and panel discussions, inspired by the Surry Hills Library's popular Late Night Library.

Ms Mak said the night would include stories and photographs from her research trip to Harden and Young, where the Lambing Flat riots occurred; scenes from The Quiet Brother; as well as a performance of songs and martial arts used in the play.

The 33-year-old said researching The Quiet Brother, which follows one family's struggle in the aftermath of the riots, was an emotional experience as she discovered the migrants' stories mirrored her own.

"One of the most moving aspects was being able to relate to the Chinese migrants experience in the 19th century," said Ms Mak, who emigrated in the 1980s.

"You are still faced with the question of how much you assimilate, how much you blend in and how much you retain you Chinese origins or identity - that was quite a struggle for us when we came here."

Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said it was important to explore different aspects of Australia's history and local community grants were helping make this possible.

"Ivy Mak has used a local community grant to expand this play, which delves into a divisive period of NSW's history while exploring the parallels between that time and current immigrants' experiences," the Lord Mayor said.

"The Quiet Brother tells significant stories which will still resonate with immigrants and Australians today."

The Quiet Brother Library Up Late taster is on Wednesday 1 February, from 8pm to 9pm. The event is free, but bookings are essential; phone 02 9242 8555.

For more information, contact City of Sydney Senior Media Adviser Jodie Minus, phone 02 9265 9910 or email jminus@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au 

For more information visit cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/library