AustLit logo

AustLit

image of person or book cover 6841355156562151642.jpg
This image has been sourced from ABC website
Leah Purcell Leah Purcell i(A11198 works by)
Born: Established: 1970 Murgon, Murgon - Wondai area, Kingaroy - Murgon - Kilkivan - Woolooga area, Central West Queensland, Queensland, ;
Gender: Female
Heritage: Aboriginal Wakka Wakka ; Aboriginal
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 1 form y separately published work icon Here Out West Nisrine Amine , Bina Bhattacharya , Matias Bolla , Claire Cao , Arka Das , Duygu Dogan , Vonne Patiag , Tien Tran , ( dir. Fadia Abboud et. al. )agent Australia : Co-Curious Emerald Productions , 2021 23331433 2021 single work film/TV Anthology feature film, following the lives of complete strangers over one day, after a desperate grandmother kidnaps a baby from a hospital.
1 3 form y separately published work icon The Drover's Wife : The Legend of Molly Johnson Leah Purcell , ( dir. Leah Purcell ) Australia : Tahlee Productions , 2020 10722662 2020 single work film/TV
1 7 y separately published work icon The Drover's Wife : The Legend of Molly Johnson Leah Purcell , Camberwell : Hamish Hamilton , 2019 18076321 2019 single work novel historical fiction

'Deep in the heart of Australia’s high country, along an ancient, hidden track, lives Molly Johnson and her four surviving children, another on the way. Husband Joe is away months at a time droving livestock up north, leaving his family in the bush to fend for itself. Molly’s children are her world, and life is hard and precarious with only their dog, Alligator, and a shotgun for protection – but it can be harder when Joe’s around.

'At just twelve years of age Molly’s eldest son Danny is the true man of the house, determined to see his mother and siblings safe – from raging floodwaters, hunger and intruders, man and reptile. Danny is mature beyond his years, but there are some things no child should see. He knows more than most just what it takes to be a drover’s wife.

'One night under the moon’s watch, Molly has a visitor of a different kind – a black ‘story keeper’, Yadaka. He’s on the run from authorities in the nearby town, and exchanges kindness for shelter. Both know that justice in this nation caught between two worlds can be as brutal as its landscape. But in their short time together, Yadaka shows Molly a secret truth, and the strength to imagine a different path.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 form y separately published work icon My Life Is Murder Claire Tonkin , Peter Gawler , Matt Ford , Tim Pye , Ainslie Clouston , Monica Zanetti , Chris Hawkshaw , Paul Bennett , Chris Corbett , ( dir. Leah Purcell et. al. )agent Australia : CJZ , 2019 16558651 2019 series - publisher film/TV detective

'A cop show without a cop, My Life is Murder is a contemporary mystery series with a complex, charismatic and compelling investigator who can’t help fighting the good fight – whether it’s solving murders or combatting the small frustrations of daily life.'

Source: Screen Australia.

1 y separately published work icon Don't Just Count Us, Let Us Count! Leilani Pearce , Leah Purcell (director), Brisbane : Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts Kuril Dhagun , 2017 11298296 2017 single work multimedia

'Ten years ago, the Aboriginal Centre for Performing Arts (ACPA) developed a show called Reflections: Referendum 40 years and to the future. The performance was a creative response to the anniversary of the 1967 Referendum when Australians voted overwhelmingly for constitutional change to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the national census.

'Don’t Just Count Us, Let Us Count! tells the story of this historic milestone through the eyes of ACPA alumni as they reflect on the creative process, research and the performance which shaped who they are today and their understanding of the campaign to be counted.' (Production summary)

1 5 form y separately published work icon Little J and Big Cuz Leah Purcell , Beck Cole , Adrian Wills , ( dir. Tony Thorne ) Victoria : Ned Lander Media Australian Children's Television Foundation , 2017-2019 10444886 2017 series - publisher film/TV children's

'Little J is five and has just started kindergarten year at school. He lives with his grandmother (Nanna), his girl cousin (Big Cuz) who is nine, and their dog (Old Dog) who is also the story narrator. LITTLE J & BIG CUZ follows the family's adventures and is told primarily from the point of view of Little J.'

Source: Screen Australia.

1 9 form y separately published work icon The Secret Daughter Greg Haddrick , Louise Crane , Justin Monjo , Kristen Dunphy , Fin Edquist , Sam Meikle , ( dir. Geoff Bennett et. al. )agent Australia : Screentime Seven Network , 2016-2017 9138583 2016 series - publisher film/TV

The life of an Indigenous part-time country pub singer undergoes a radical change after she meets a wealthy Sydney hotelier.

1 59 form y separately published work icon Cleverman Jon Bell , Jonathan Gavin , Ryan Griffen , Michael Miller , Jane Allen , Stuart Page , Justine Gillmer , Jonathan Gavin , ( dir. Wayne Blair et. al. )agent Australia New Zealand : Goalpost Pictures Pukeko Pictures , 2016-2017 8816704 2016 series - publisher film/TV science fiction

Two Indigenous brothers fight for survival in a world in which humans and non-humans clash.

1 14 y separately published work icon The Drover's Wife Leah Purcell , Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2016 11151204 2016 single work drama

'If anyone can write a full-throttle drama of our colonial past, it’s the indomitable Leah Purcell.

'We all know Henry Lawson’s story of the Drover’s Wife. Her stoic silhouette against an unforgiving landscape, her staring down of the serpent; it’s the frontier myth captured in a few pages. In Leah’s new play the old story gets a very fresh rewrite. Once again the Drover’s Wife is confronted by a threat in her yard, but now it’s a man. He’s bleeding, he’s got secrets, and he’s black. She knows there’s a fugitive wanted for killing whites, and the district is thick with troopers, but something’s holding the Drover’s Wife back from turning this fella in…

'A taut thriller of our pioneering past, with a black sting to the tail, The Drover’s Wife reaches from our nation’s infancy into our complicated present. And best of all, Leah’s playing the Wife herself.' (Publication summary)

1 5 form y separately published work icon Ready For This Leah Purcell , Greg Waters , Adrian Wills , Kristen Dunphy , Liz Doran , Jon Bell , Josh Mapleston , ( dir. Daina Reid et. al. )agent Australia : Blackfella Films Werner Film Productions , 2015 8888376 2015 series - publisher film/TV children's young adult

'Six teenagers, all elite within their own field, have come to live at Arcadia House to pursue their dreams. For some it's the opportunity of a lifetime. For others it's a last chance. All are strangers, some a long way from home, and the last thing they expect to find is family. Far from home, they must find a path through the new challenges and adventures that the big city offers while dealing with all the trials of growing up.' (Source: ABC3 website)

1 form y separately published work icon The Birthday Party Leah Purcell , ( dir. Adrian Wills ) Australia : Blackfella Films Werner Film Productions , 2015 10275527 2015 single work film/TV
1 1 form y separately published work icon Who We Are : Brave New Clan Ernest Hariyanto , Leah Purcell , Larissa Behrendt , ( dir. Leah Purcell ) Australia : Foxtel , 2014 7587720 2014 single work film/TV biography

'Follow the lives of six exceptional young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and see how they engage with their communities, history and cultures, in modern Australia. As part of their contemporary lifestyles, these inspiring young Australians showcase music, politics, careers, histories, bush medicine, language and stories. Their unique journeys span Indigenous cultures across the country from the bustling streets of Sydney to the aquamarine vistas of the Torres Strait.' (Source: Bio channel website)

1 52 form y separately published work icon Redfern Now Jon Bell , Adrian Wills , Steven McGregor , Danielle Maclean , Michelle Blanchard , Wayne Blair , ( dir. Catriona McKenzie et. al. )agent Australia : ABC Television Screen Australia Blackfella Films , 2012-2013 Z1750518 2012 series - publisher film/TV

Redfern Now is 'the first contemporary TV drama series written, directed and produced by Indigenous Australians.'

Source: ABC Television website.

1 4 Don't Take Your Love to Town Eamon Flack , Leah Purcell , 2012 single work drama 'You can think of me as Ruby Wagtail Big Noise Anderson Rangi Ando Heifer Andy Langford.

Ruby Langford Ginibi's Don't Take Your Love to Town is one of Australia's great and abiding books. Everything and nothing happens - from the small to the absolute, from the simple to the diabolical. Spanning most of the last century, from Coonabarabran to Surry Hills, it is the chronicle of a life.

And Ruby's is one hell of a life. Leah Purcell directs this one-woman show which attempts something a little bit glorious: to relive Ruby's big and soulful 70-something years in an evening. Don't Take Your Love to Town is about a lot of things - love, childhood, struggle, humour, family, work - but most of all it is a homage to Black Australia's extraordinary spirit of endurance. (Source: Belvoir St Theatre website.)
1 Leah Purcell ... Waiting to Exhale in Bora Bora, with a Good Pillow and a Paperback Romance Leah Purcell , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 10 April 2011; (p. 12)
1 2 The Dreaming Wake up Australia! Leah Purcell , 2011 single work drama children's dreaming story '...A long long time ago
Back when the Dreamtime was a little slow
Sung a bird called Wahn
Wahn the beautiful colourful crow.

'In "Actor On A Box: The Dreaming", director Leah Purcell, will lead us back to the very beginnings of Pamanyungun, respectfully sharing stories passed to her about the great spiritual powers of the ancestors and the awakening of the land - Wake Up Australia!'

The performance fuses' traditional and contemporary storytelling with movement and music, humour and play, to create a very special Dreamtime experience for children.

'This latest Actor on a Box will be a joyful and playful experience, created by Leah Purcell to make some of her people's precious stories accessible to children and families from all communities.'

Source: Sydney Theatre Company website, http://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/
Sighted: 05/04/2011
1 rip Turns Out to Be One_way Journey Leah Purcell , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 10 October 2010; (p. 13)
1 On the Spot : Leah Purcell, Filmmaker, Actor Leah Purcell , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 22 May 2010; (p. 3)
1 Q150 and Long Before Leah Purcell , 2009 single work musical theatre '"Q150 and Long Before" is a music theatre journey of the last 150 years and long before, snapshots of the Indigenous peoples' contribution to the 'building up' of this the Sunshine state. There will be stories influenced by the South Sea Islanders and the Torres Strait and all told from this generation's perspective. Stories of the Dreaming, Gatherings and Totems and the coming of the first three white men carried here on a storm.'

1 8 form y separately published work icon My Place Alice Addison , Beth Armstrong , Blake Ayshford , Nicholas Parsons , Jacquelin Perske , Leah Purcell , Tim Pye , Greg Waters , Brendan Cowell , Gina Roncoli , John Alsop , Samantha Lang , Wayne Blair , Dallas Winmar , Tony Briggs , ( dir. Shawn Seet et. al. )agent Australia : Little Leaf Pictures Matchbox Pictures ABC Television , 2009-2011 Z1649817 2009-2011 series - publisher film/TV children's historical fiction My Place, based on the award-winning book My Place by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins, is a thirteen-part drama series that tells the story of one house in South Sydney through the experiences of the children who live there over a 130-year period. My Place aims to show that everyone is part of history and that every place has a story.
X