Invoking the expansive, isolating beauty of rural Australia, Reg Cribb’s epic new play Thomas Murray & The Upside Down River is about a man ravaged by drought, family secrets and love.

The Murray family have been farming the land along the Darling River for five generations. For Tom Murray, it’s all he’s ever known. When his childhood friends Lucy and Billy reappear, deep friendships are tested and secrets, long buried, are finally awakened. Tom must make the long journey down-stream to reconcile past wrongs and fight for his wife.

This professional theatrical production from the multi-award winning screenwriter of Last Cab to Darwin presents a thrilling new Australian drama about a family who have been farming along the Darling River for five generations and the challenges that long term friendships can bring.

Indigenous themes are central to the work, with a story that revolves around Thomas Murray uncovering evidence of a massacre that his family were involved in. “As much as this is a play about dealing with one man’s past it is also very much about our country’s present and about our relationship with the land,” says Director Chris Bendall. “It is both a memory play and an odyssey, traversing time and unearthing secrets buried long ago. Bringing its epic scale to the stage has been a hugely exciting challenge for us all.”

“Big River. Big Sky. Big Betrayal. Big secrets exposed as the river recedes. Thomas Murray is a lot of play for your money”.

Sydney Morning Herald Jason Blake