# Richard Davey

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Australian actor and director

For other people named Richard Davey, see [Richard Davey (disambiguation)](/source/Richard_Davey_(disambiguation)).

Richard Davey Richard Innes Davey – in mid scene of "The Ship That Never Was" Born Richard Innes Davey (1938-11-04)4 November 1938 Died 13 March 2013(2013-03-13) (aged 74) Occupations Actor, playwright Years active 1958–2013

**Richard Innes Davey** (4 November 1938 – 13 March 2013) was an [Australian](/source/Australians) actor, director and writer. He was the founder of the Round Earth Company and advocate for the understanding of the [Macquarie Harbour Penal Station](/source/Macquarie_Harbour_Penal_Station) on [Sarah Island](/source/Macquarie_Harbour_Penal_Station) on the [West Coast](/source/West_Coast%2C_Tasmania) of [Tasmania](/source/Tasmania).

Earlier he had been artistic director of [The Hole in the Wall Theatre](/source/The_Hole_in_the_Wall_Theatre) in [Perth](/source/Perth), Western Australia from 1969 -1971.[1][2]

## Work

Over ten years of the [Round Earth Theatre Company](/source/Round_Earth_Theatre_Company) at [Strahan](/source/Strahan%2C_Tasmania), 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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Richard_Flanagan)'s *[Gould's Book of Fish](/source/Gould's_Book_of_Fish)*. They both use the painting by [William Buelow Gould](/source/William_Buelow_Gould) of the [Weedy sea dragon](/source/Weedy_sea_dragon) on the covers of their books.

Davey's long lasting interest in Shakespeare's *[King Lear](/source/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]

## See also

- [Convicts on the West Coast of Tasmania](/source/Convicts_on_the_West_Coast_of_Tasmania)

- [Macquarie Harbour](/source/Macquarie_Harbour)

## Audio recordings

- Davey, Richard (2009), [*Richard Davey interviewed by Rob Willis in the Rob Willis folklore collection*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/35472860), retrieved 17 April 2013

## Plays

- (1982) Tell 'em you're Maoris (Put Your Boots On)[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

- (1983) Broken Dreams[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

- (1984) The Ship That Never Was[9]

- (1984) Hallelujah Lady Jane[10]

- (1986) Guarding the Perimeter[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

- (1986) Scapegoats[11]

- (1986) A Cry From The Heart[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

- (1986) The Catfish that cried[12]

- (1986) Hook's Mountain[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

- (1995) A Bright and Crimson Flower[13]

- (2004) The Case Of The Missing Rations[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Books

- Davey, Richard (1984), [*Don't park your swan on the grass*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/22022997), Salamanca Theatre Company, retrieved 17 April 2013

- Davey, Richard; Pigot, Neil; Davey, Anita (1993), [*A bright and crimson flower*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/11469643), Crimson Flower Project, retrieved 17 April 2013

- Davey, Richard, (2002) *The Sarah Island conspiracies : being an account of twelve voyages made by one G.K. to Macquarie Harbour on the western coast of Van Diemens Land 1822–1833* Strahan, Tas. : Round Earth Co., [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9750051-0-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9750051-0-3) (Reproduction of a memoir dated 1896 authored by an anonymous clerk G.K. )

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Australian Web Archive"](https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20100623020700/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/120606/20100623-1207/australianplays.org/playwright/asc-54.html). Archived from [the original](http://australianplays.org/playwright/asc-54.html) on 23 June 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Richard Davey | OzScript"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120722194216/http://www.ozscript.org/playwright54.html). Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ABC Radio National, *[Artworks](http://www.abc.net.au/rn/artworks/stories/2007/2085488.htm)*, ABC Radio, 11 November 2007. Accessed 6 October 2008

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [*King Lear (20 October 1981 - 24 October 1981) \[Event Description\]*](https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/232259235), 1981, retrieved 30 December 2023

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/458](http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/458) 1967 and 1981 – [http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/25340](http://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/25340)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Australian Stage Online – The Madness of King Lear](http://www.australianstage.com.au/reviews/tasmania/the-madness-of-king-lear-945.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Richard Davey dies at 74"](http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2013/03/13/374542_most-popular-stories.html). *The Mercury*. Retrieved 26 August 2023.{{[cite news](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_news)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Obituaries | the West Announcements"](http://www.westannouncements.com.au/obituaries/thewest-au/obituary.aspx?pid=163644276#fbLoggedOut).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Davey, Richard; Fitzpatrick, Phil (2003), [*The ship that never was : the last great escape from Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour : liberty or death!*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/17761241), Round Earth Co, retrieved 17 April 2013

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Davey, Richard (1980), [*Hallelujah Lady Jane*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36682153), retrieved 17 April 2013

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Davey, Richard, 1938–2013, (organizer.); Theatre Royal (Hobart, Tas.) (host institution); Zootango Theatre Company (Tas.) (issuing body) (1986), [*Scapegoats : Zootango presents Scapegoats*](https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/204611941), [Tasmania] Zootango, retrieved 30 August 2018{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list)) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_numeric_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Davey, Richard; Carroll, Jeff, (composer,) (1986), [*The catfish that cried : an opera for children*](https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/200459263), Morley, Western Australia Published by Children's Activities Time Society (Inc), retrieved 30 August 2018{{[citation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Citation)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Davey, Richard; Round Earth Company (1995), [*A bright and crimson flower*](https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21798208), The Round Earth Company, retrieved 30 August 2018

## Further reading

- [*\[Biographical cuttings on Richard Davey, playwright, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals\]*](http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/35877297), 1900, retrieved 17 April 2013

- [Shakespeare, Nicholas](/source/Nicholas_Shakespeare), *In Tasmania* Milsons Point, N.S.W. : Random House Australia, 2007. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-74166-906-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-74166-906-0)

Authority control databases International VIAF People Trove

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