The Visitors – 23 January 2026

On the brink of Australia’s colonization, six elders and one young representative meet to discuss what is to be done about the ships they see on their horizon. Initially a hostile bunch, one brave woman named Wallace (Najwa Adams-Ebel) raises her concernes about not knowing enough to know for certain that the people on board these boats mean them harm. The day turns to talk of first person interactions and what can be gleaned from them to prove the elders should break their standard protocol of welcoming strangers and instead accost these unknown visitors. Holding space for simultaneous truths, The Visitors shows the power of a seed of doubt and the strength of a proud set of nations who choose to lay their weapons down in the face of potential danger rather than greet new strangers with suspicion and violence.

The Visitors had noble intentions, and tells a genuinely honorable truth about what a shame it is that cultures that values peace, careful deliberation, and honoring their land, were the ones most decimated by colonial ventures. It begins with lines in native languages, showing that despite colonial efforts, these culture survived to present day – there are people who still speak their words. Though this section felt a little lengthy, the importance of it was instructional, and it helped keep the rest of these tough conversations in perspective. The show also emphasizes the importance of truth, particularly the difference between knowing something firsthand, hearing it from a witness, hearing telling of it in a story, and feeling that it is certain. In today’s world, these concepts are muddied, and we need this reminder now more than ever. The Visitors also critiques the realm of interpreting what you know, casting doubt on the idea that one can explain why another did something if not explicitly told. These timely reminders are well integrated into the show.

Even as a short one act, The Visitors feels tedious at times, with the circular nature of the deliberations and the voting process. The characters felt closer to archetypes than fully fleshed out humans, and though the emphasis on stoicism was admirable, it made it hard to tell when people’s feelings were changing and which arguments were swaying them until the point when they were called upon to verbalize their new positions. It would have added more dynamics to the show if the staging and characterization were directed to be (Wesley Enoch) bigger, more visible, and to take up more physical space. Though each person holding their small piece of the stage as if it were their country was a noble concept, as a theatrical event it didn’t allow for many stage pictures. Similarly, despite the stated changing times of day, there were minimal shifts in lighting (Karen Norris), which helped foster the idea that nothing was changing in the deliberations, but also hindered audience enjoyment and engagement. The sound design (Brendon Boney) in the preshow was really rich and intriguing, but once the show started it stopped feeling naturalistic and became very pointedly cued, which felt artificial and hollow.

The story told by The Visitors is important, but this production fails to use all of the tools available in telling the story as a piece of theatre. With more significant staging, lighting, and sound, Jane Harrison‘s words could have come alive in a totally different way. The Visitors is a meaningful show that provides insight into individual and collective humanity in a truly admirable way. There’s more in this story than its current form allows us to see.

I attended this performance on a press pass from Polk & Co.