3—13 Sep 2025
Back To Bilo
Presented by Brisbane Festival and Queensland Theatre
A true-life testimony to people power and persistence.
Priya and Nades left war-torn Sri Lanka and found each other in regional Queensland. They married, had two daughters, worked hard and settled into a simple but happy country life.
The community welcomed them with open arms - but four years later came a knock at the door and they were ripped away in a dawn raid.
Their story could have ended there, but a brave band of Biloela women weren’t giving up on them so easily.
Fighting alongside the young refugee family, they launched a grassroots, people-powered campaign that galvanised hundreds of thousands of ordinary Australians to demand the family be brought back to Bilo.
This is the remarkable true account of one family’s ordeal in the nightmare limbo of immigration detention, a story of how love is stronger than fear and of how persistence and togetherness can win against crushing odds. Back to Bilo is a profoundly moving new play from celebrated local company Belloo Creative (Boy, Lost) and is made with - and from - the heart of regional Queensland.
Writer: Katherine Lyall-Watson
Director: Caroline Dunphy
Original Concept: Matt Scholten
Tamil Cultural Advisor: Sudhesh Somu & Vashini Jayakumar
Designer: Govin Ruben
Costume Designer: Keerthi Subramanyam
Composer and Sound Designer: Guy Webster
Video Designer: Mic Gruchy
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Major Festivals Initiative, managed by the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, in association with the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals Inc commissioned by Brisbane Festival, Darwin Festival, Perth Festival and Queensland Theatre.
Important Info
Recommended for Ages 14+
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A must-see production about the triumph of the human spirit and the power of community.
Cathy HuntWOW (Women of the World) Australia