Unprecedented

Judges' comments

Campion Decent’s work is clear and incisive, haring through alarming evidence drawn from coronial inquiry reports, testimonials, and submissions to royal commissions, to paint a disturbing portrait (with lashings of humour) of what has stood between us and necessary climate action. The frustrating sameness of political response is central here, justifying Decent’s dramatic purpose further. This is a roar of frustration that needs to ring in audiences’ ears.

Playwrights are rarely given credit for the degree of difficulty inherent in their work; here it is absolutely deserved. Decent has that rare skill of diving deeply into a subject and tailoring his finds with a finely hewn sense of theatricality and the structure necessary for taking his audience with him on a complex journey through history, politics and the communities affected. It’s hard not to be struck by the authenticity and relevance of this unflinching work.