[3][4][5] According to writer Margaret Williams " At the time Burn wrote his play there was no theatrical profession in Australia.
And when it did emerge in Sydney three years after The Bushrangers was staged in Edinburgh it was in circumstances that made it unlikely, if not impossible, that a play of such pointed first-hand social observation would be performed.
"[7] Leslie Rees said "While the standard of writing and characterization is not high, The Bushrangers nevertheless shows an advance in local truth on Van Dieman’s Land.
Burn failed to use a fraction of the exciting events provided by the real Brady’s career, but he appeared to want to give, as well as an adventurous tale, a semi-factual record of life in the new colony—the trials of new settlers and so on.
"[8] According to Margaret Williams "The play combines, with a surprisingly sure touch, the traditions of romantic drama with astute observation of the details of Tasmanian life in the 1820s.