A story about hope and survival that cuts straight to the heart.

A tiny wooden boat is battered by roaring seas, on board Hamed Mokri cradles his small daughter. His former homeland now more perilous than the seas he’s fighting, his daughter the very last soul he can protect other than his own. He clings to a fading silver lining, to find land girt by sea. 

Meanwhile, an Angel of Death hangs over them with reckoning, conjuring up all its power to send them both to the bottom of the unknown sea – silent, and black, and endless.

Written in response to Tony Abbott’s infamous comment, “Jesus knew there was a place for everything, and it’s not everyone’s place to come to Australia.” The Sound of Waiting is a powerfully poetic allegory for our times, exploring displacement, resilience and hope in a world that has closed its doors on humanity. 

“The Sound of Waiting should be on every stage in every city and town of Australia.” – Real Time.

Mary Anne Butler is a multi-award winning writer from the Northern Territory. Her play Broken won the 2016 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Literature and Drama.

A Sydney Premiere

Supported by The Stafford Morgan Family