Richard Davey | |
|---|---|
 Richard Innes Davey – in mid scene of "The Ship That Never Was" | |
| Born | Richard Innes Davey 4 November 1938 |
| Died | 13 March 2013 (aged 74) |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, playwright |
| Years active | 1958–2013 |
Richard Innes Davey (4 November 1938 – 13 March 2013) was an Australian actor, director and writer. He was the founder of the Round Earth Company and advocate for the understanding of the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station on Sarah Island on the West Coast of Tasmania.
Earlier he had been artistic director of The Hole in the Wall Theatre in Perth, Western Australia from 1969 -1971.[1][2]
Over ten years of the Round Earth Theatre Company at Strahan, and work on Sarah Island as a guide, Davey's work has had significance in helping tourists understand the penal station and its context, where previously there had been scattered and not very accessible research. The Ship That Never Was, written by Davey, is Australia's longest-running play, with over 5,000 performances and continuing to be performed nightly at Strahan; it is about the Frederick escape, the successful escape of 10 convicts from Sarah Island to Chile.[3]
His book The Sarah Island Conspiracies: Being an account of twelve voyages to Macquarie Harbour and Sarah Island, which was short listed for a major prize in Hobart in 2005, complements the work of Richard Flanagan's Gould's Book of Fish. They both use the painting by William Buelow Gould of the Weedy sea dragon on the covers of their books.
Davey's long lasting interest in Shakespeare's King Lear[4][5] saw production in November 2007 of an adaptation The Madness of King Lear[6] in Hobart, Tasmania.
Davey died on 13 March 2013 after a long battle with illness.[7][8]
