From the Humanities & Cultural Studies Department

Years 7, 8 & 10 HSIE Incursion – Crossing the Divide

Last Thursday, 12th June , students in Years 7, 8 and 10 attended a live theatre performance of Crossing the Divide by Shock Therapy Arts as part of their HSIE studies.

The play, set in the Blue Mountains, followed a group of high school students on a bushwalk retracing the 1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains by Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth.

What began as a simple history excursion quickly turned into something much deeper. As their guide, Lionel, challenged the students to think beyond the textbook version of events, the group began to learn more about the early interactions between colonial explorers and Indigenous Australians — and the stories that are often left out of mainstream history.

The performance blended humour, drama, and physical theatre, but it also raised some important questions: Whose voices are we listening to? Whose stories are we telling?

It was a powerful and thought-provoking experience, and one that connected strongly with the work students have been doing in class around colonisation, historical perspectives and empathy. 

A big thank you to Shock Therapy Arts for bringing such an engaging and important story to life on our stage.

Tristan Forsyth

Humanities & Cultural Studies