CONVICTION

In 1837 Sir John Franklin, Arctic explorer and a man who could not bear to witness the punishment of his own men, arrives as Governor of the penal colony, Van Diemen's Land. Conviction is the story of those unfortunate years.

The well-meaning but politically naive Sir John is accompanied by his wife Jane, a vivacious, courageous, meddlesome blue-stocking determined to transform Hobart Town into the cultural capital of the southern hemisphere, and by his friend the reformer Alexander Machonochie.

The idealistic Franklins find themselves in increasing conflict with the pragmatic Colonial Secretary, John Montagu, who is implacably opposed to any changes to the system he has been administering for years. An exploration of what happens when people pursue their convictions, the play shows how Montagu becomes a Machiavellian schemer, undermining Lady Jane's plans for reform and engineering the dismissal first of Machonochie and finally of Governor Franklin.

Shortlisted for the 2001 Griffin Award