'Heat. Drought. Dust storms. More people missing every day. The city turning into a ghost town. These are not the only dangers for George and his little brother, Beeper. There's also Emily, a girl who moves like a shadow, slides through locked doors, and seems determined to push two stranded boys ever closer to disaster.' (Publisher's blurb)
'Imagine a world of dust. A future where water drips brown from the taps. Where dust storms reduce houses to rubble. Where a young boy, George (Rory Potter), and his younger brother, Beeper (played alternatively by Jack Andrew and Noah Sturzaker), fight to survive as they wait for their father to return home. And where a young rebellious girl, Emily (Sofia Nolan), won’t take no for an answer. Imagine the future. Imagine THE BIG DRY.
'A first time co-production with the ground-breaking Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) and based on the best-selling Australian novel by Tony Davis, THE BIG DRY promises to be an event not to be missed, for young or old.
'Heat. Drought. Dust. Storms. More people missing every day. The city turning into a ghost town. A world where parents have become a thing of the past, like rain. Food and water have become scarce. Two young boys, George and his younger brother Beeper huddle together in a ragged house waiting for their dad to come home while dust blasters rage outside. Any adults they meet are powerless, struggling or brutal and harsh. They meet a young girl Emily, who becomes their protector and provider. Set in a post-apocalyptic world in a landscape that is barren, vast and scary.' (Production summary)
This creative works thesis comprises an exegesis and a novel. Both explore the ways that a postnatural perspective can shape the reading and writing of young adult dystopian fiction. Approaching literature from a postnatural perspective can highlight a connection between shifts in a novel's key terms and the development of the protagonist towards understanding their world as an interconnected ecosystem. Through its grounding in ecocriticism and children's literature criticism, this research investigates the contributions a postnatural perspective offers young adult dystopian fiction generally, and specifically, in the development of the novel When the Cloud Hit the Kellys.
This creative works thesis comprises an exegesis and a novel. Both explore the ways that a postnatural perspective can shape the reading and writing of young adult dystopian fiction. Approaching literature from a postnatural perspective can highlight a connection between shifts in a novel's key terms and the development of the protagonist towards understanding their world as an interconnected ecosystem. Through its grounding in ecocriticism and children's literature criticism, this research investigates the contributions a postnatural perspective offers young adult dystopian fiction generally, and specifically, in the development of the novel When the Cloud Hit the Kellys.