Episode 27 | Stealing Freedom - Escape from Sarah Island

Photo courtesy of The Round Earth Company

Hidden deep in Tasmania’s remote west coast, Sarah Island was once one of the most feared penal settlements in the Australian colonies. Surrounded by dense wilderness and raging seas, it was a place of secondary punishment — a last stop for the resisters who refused to fall in line. In this episode, we are joined by Kiah Davey from the Round Earth Company to take a closer look at the history of Sarah Island and the realities of daily convict life there.

Kiah and the team at The Round Earth Company, bring the island’s stories to life through guided tours and engaging site-specific theatre. Together we explore the history, the hardship, and the humanity of those who lived and laboured there. From shipbuilding and isolation to punishment and resistance, we unpack what made this place so notorious and what makes it so incredibly special.

Our Guest

Photo courtesy of The Round Earth Company

Kiah Davey

Kiah is the Managing Director of The Round Earth Company, a professional theatre company based in Strahan, Tasmania, that specialises in telling local stories. Founded in 1972 by Richard Davey, the company originally toured remote communities across Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and South Australia. Between 1975 and 1980, the Davey family travelled internationally before settling in Tasmania to focus on translating the history of Van Diemen’s Land into performance. Since then, the company has created over 50 plays and events, and in 1994 began a performance program for visitors to Strahan and Sarah Island.

Places to Visit

The Ship That Never Was

Tours of Sarah Island

Sarah Island

W.B. Gould, watercolour, State Library of New South Wales,

Sarah Island was Tasmania’s first convict settlement, and by reputation, one of the harshest penal stations in Australia’s history. Flogging was frequent, conditions were difficult, and over 180 escape attempts were recorded.

Tucked deep within the southern end of Macquarie Harbour on the wild west coast of Tasmania. But Sarah Island wasn’t just a prison. For a time, it was also the largest shipbuilding site in the Australian colonies, with convicts cutting and shaping Huon pine into sleek vessels. The timber trade thrived, even as the men who powered it suffered under harsh conditions.

It was gazetted as a tourist reserve in 1926 and later recognised as an official historic site. Today, Sarah Island sits within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Guided tours depart from Strahan, offering visitors the chance to experience history first hand.

Photographs courtesy of The Round Earth Company

The Ship That Never Was

It’s January 1834. The Frederick, the last ship to be built by convict labour on Sarah Island, is ready to set sail for the new penal settlement at Port Arthur. But ten convict shipwrights have no intention of going quietly. Instead, they hatch a bold plan that would see them steal the very vessel they built, launching one of the most audacious escape attempts in Australia’s convict history.

This incredible true story, full of drama, ingenuity, and more than a few unexpected twists, is brought to life in The Ship That Never Was, Australia's long-running live theatre production written by Richard Davey and performed in Strahan by The Round Earth Company since 1994.

Told with humour, heart, and audience participation, the play retells the remarkable final chapter of Sarah Island’s convict era. A tale so extraordinary, it’s hard to believe it's true.

Photographs courtesy of The Round Earth Company

In appreciation of Richard Davey (1938–2013)

Richard Davey was a gifted actor, director, and storyteller who left a lasting legacy in the way we can connect with Tasmania’s past.

As the founder of The Round Earth Company and a passionate advocate for the history of Sarah Island, he brought clarity, energy, and empathy to a chapter of convict history that many knew little of.

Through his research, guiding work, and his iconic play The Ship That Never Was, now Australia’s longest-running theatrical production - Richard connected thousands of people to the powerful, often untold stories of Tasmania’s west coast.

We’re deeply grateful for his work, his vision, and the way he used storytelling to breathe life into the ruins of Sarah Island. His legacy continues today, carried forward in every performance, every visitor’s discovery, and every shared moment of wonder on that wild harbour.

Recommendations

Richard Davey: The Sarah Island Conspiracies
James Porter: The Travails of Jimmy Porter
Richard Davey: Sarah Island: People, Ships and Shipwrights. A Guided Tour.
Phil Fitzpatrick & Richard Davey: The Ship That Never Was: Comic Strip.
Video / DVD: The Strahan Kid - The Early Life of a Gordon River Piner.

Orders and Purchases
To order and purchase any of the publications listed above, please contact The Round Earth Company on +61 408 517 124 or email enquiries@roundearth.com.au

Sarah Island – Tara gives us the low down on convict punishments

The Round Earth Company

One of current guides is Tara Carroll, who has been with The Round Earth Company since 2016.

Tara joined the company with extensive experience performing in live theatre and film in Tasmania, and occasionally Tara takes time off to work on other projects or to go and study film in New York.

Tara’s favorite ruin on Sarah Island is the Solitary Confinement Gaol. Follow the links attached to the video to find out about the punishments handed out to the convicts.

Ollie tells the story of Matthew Brady

The Round Earth Company

The Round Earth Company guide, Ollie Gorringe, tells the story of Tasmania's famous bushranging hero, Matthew Brady, whose exploits begun when he escaped from the Macquarie Harbour Penal Settlement.