AustLit

'In July 2006 I was reading the Guardian when I came across an image of "Christina's World", a painting by American artist Andrew Wyeth - it depicts a girl sitting in the middle of a field facing a house in the distance. It triggered something and I began writing Dirtyland with a field at its physical and emotional centre. In the play, the field becomes the site of a massacre and its action takes place in the aftermath.

About the same time, I had been reading about a massacre that occurred at Jedwabne, Poland in 1941. While the play is informed by this event, I made the decision to fictionalise the setting. Poland, Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan, Australia. Massacre is a cruel and inexplicable phenomenon which recurs in time and place. While the setting is fictional, living in Europe while writing this work had an inevitable impact. Europe is the birthplace of a history (and of a violence) that constitutes a core part of my world view. I am fascinated by the lingering impact war leaves behind; the silences between generations, the joy of first love, the meaning of exile, the relentlessness of desire, and the moral dilemmas of survival. Most of all I am compelled by the human determination to survive at any cost - and determination is what binds these elements together.' - Elise Hearst

Source: www.nationalplayfestival.org.au/ (Sighted 20/01/2009).