Rainbow’s End
Context and 3 Key Scenes
Context
• First performed in Melbourne in 2005.
• Set in rural Victoria in the 1950s at time when Queen
Elizabeth II was undertaking an official Royal visit to Australia
(1956).
• The majority of Australians felt a strong connection to the
monarch.
• White Australia Policy was still in place.
• Aboriginal Australians were not included in the census and
they were being forcibly removed from their communities in
the manner presented in the play.
Act One – Scene Thirteen: Waters Rising
• This scene precedes the flood and the rape of Dolly. It is
important as it demonstrates how belonging is a perception
through the different ideas of Dolly and Errol.
• Errol represents the ignorance of paternalistic white attitudes
towards what a ‘real home’ and a sense of belonging
constitutes. “The point is, you could live in a real home, for
the first time.”
• Dolly refutes his offer and asserts that “a real home is where
people are looking out for each other”.
• This scene demonstrates both how people and place influence
connections to belonging and not belonging.
Act One, Scene Ten: The Bank VS Mrs Banks
• This scene demonstrates the tension in Gladys’ character between
belonging and not belonging. She wants her daughter to belong to a
society that rejects her.
• The bank is a foreign world to Gladys and her dialogue and actions in
the scene reflect this.
• The manager deliberately makes Gladys feel out of place by not
offering her a cup of tea despite making one for himself. He also
uses patronising language to make Gladys feel inferior.
• In the background, Dolly performs a rendition of Perry Como’s ‘Catch
a Falling Star’ whilst picking fruit in an orchard. This demonstrates
Dolly’s innocence and the audience is made to feel empathy for her
situation.
• Also consider Act 2, Scene 5: Pay the rent and compare the rent
collector with the bank manager. What do these characters
represent?
Act Two, Scene Seven: The Petition
• The last scene of the play is pivotal as it demonstrates changed
perceptions of belonging. Gladys realises what is truly important and
stands up for the rights of her community as this is where a true
sense of belonging is found.
• The beginning of the scene demonstrates Errol’s changed attitude:
“…where you belong, and your family, is important. To you, and to
me.” (p193)
• Papa Dear is unable to present the petition at the community hall so
Gladys “marches up to podium” and delivers it herself.
• In contrast to earlier in the play, her language is assertive and
controlled through the use of the imperative “we demand suitable
housing for the Aboriginal people” and the rhetorical questions
• “Mrs Windsor, would you live at Rumbalara?” and “Why do we have
to prove we can live like whitefellas, before we get the same
opportunities?”
• A dream sequence shows wedding bells and confetti as DOLLY and
ERROL get married.