Overview
A high school history class, sets out on a two-day trek across the Great Dividing Range, learning about the expedition by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson. As the group travel through the Blue Mountains, their guide Lionel draws their attention to what is often left out of the history books. They learn about some of the earliest interactions between Indigenous people and the colonial explorers, revealing some of this nation's difficult truths.
As the trip continues, Liam, a scholarship student from the Torres Strait, starts to feel uncomfortable, constantly having to declare or defend his experience as a First Nations person to his classmates. Tensions mount when Liam’s friend Max refuses to see how European settlement created anything but a positive pathway to progress for a newly forming nation. Tempers flare around the camp fire and Liam becomes lost – in time and place – as he’s suddenly staring down the barrel of a shot-gun held by an equally startled and confused Gregory Blaxland.
The physical landscape of the Great Dividing Range serves as an allegory for the pertinent issues that Australia is grappling with and the divide between various parts of our society. Crossing the Divide asks the question, “Can we find a path to a more unified Australia, or is the distance too vast to cross and will we always be divided?”
A cast of three performers depict 13 characters in this fast-paced story featuring original live music (composed by ARIA Award winning hip-hop artist DOBBY), humour, rifts in the space-time continuum, and some of history’s hard truths.
Visit the Shock Therapy Arts website for more information.
Extend the Experience – For School Groups
The below activities for students are part of the Interdisciplinary Learning Program and are designed to extend the experience beyond the performance. In the Expressions of Interest form, select the performance first and then select any extended experiences you wish to add.
Workshops are booking out quickly, with limited availability left. If you would like to host a workshop at your school, please contact education@qpac.com.au to discuss how we can support you and your students.
ACTIVITY 1: Songs of Protest
Workshop
Thursday, 19 February 2026, 11:30am
Duration: 70 mins
In-venue allocation exhausted.
Please contact education@qpac.com.au to host a workshop at your school.
Guided by First Nations artists, students will explore how song becomes a voice for truth and transformation — investigating stories of colonialism, the Stolen Generations, and resilience. They’ll weave their own stories into song, create, and share their sound.
Curriculum Links: The Arts Curriculum V9.0 - Drama, Music and Dance e.g. AC9AMUFE01, AC9AMU10E02, AC9ADR10E02, General Senior Syllabus Drama, (Share) Music (Design), English General Senior Syllabus (Texts and Culture), English V9.0, AC9E9LE06, AC9E10LE01, AC9E10LE06
ACTIVITY 2: Who Writes History?
Panel
Thursday, 19 February 2026, 11am
Duration: 60 mins
Who owns history – and who gets to tell it? This panel moderated by David Burton (Writer/Director) with guest writers and artists Benjin Maza (Co-writer/Co-director/Performer – Crossing the Divide) and Claire Christian (Author/Playwright/Theatremaker) takes on the complex craft of writing history in fiction and nonfiction, confronting power, perspective, and truth along the way. Whose story gets told? Whose is silenced? And why does it matter?
Curriculum Links: English General Senior Syllabus, English V9.0 AC9E9LY01, Humanities and Social Science V9.0, Modern History General Senior Syllabus, The Arts V9.0, Drama General Senior Syllabus
ACTIVITY 3: Storytelling and Creating Drama
Workshop by Shock Therapy Arts
Friday, 20 February 2026, 11:30am
Duration: 70 mins
In-venue allocation exhausted.
Please contact education@qpac.com.au to host a workshop at your school.
Students work with Shock Therapy’s Founders and Artistic Directors Sam Foster and Hayden Jones to explore play-building, playwriting, and the power of storytelling in theatre.
Curriculum Links: The Arts Curriculum V9.0 – Drama, Music and Dance Senior Syllabi, English General Syllabus (close study of literary texts)
Gallery
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