Round Earth Theatre Company

In 1973–1974, funded by the Australia Council, three journeys into the North and Central deserts were undertaken, with storytellers, musicians, artists and craft workers visiting mining towns and Aboriginal communities.

By 1988, a repertoire of performances, including Broken Dreams in Adelaide and Melbourne in 1984,[4] and Hallelujah Lady Jane, Pieces of Iron and Guarding the Perimeter from 1986 to 1988, was forming and had begun to find its way interstate.

"[6] In 1992, Round Earth went solo again, attempting a return to the road with A Bright and Crimson Flower, a large-scale epic about Australian Prisoners of War under the Japanese.

[7] In 1994, in response to a request by Alan Coates, a Tasmanian Parks Ranger, The Round Earth Company, facing bankruptcy, took a two-person play to Strahan on the West Coast of Tasmania, performing The Ship That Never Was.

[1] In 1998, the Company undertook to operate the Strahan Visitor Centre, curating an exhibition created by Robert Morris-Nunn and Richard Flanagan, and providing printed information to tourists.

Members of the audience, adults and children alike become temporary actors (and sailors) of "The Ship That Never Was" as The Frederick is reconstructed on stage during each performance