The play can be described as a play of coming of age since it presents the development of the major character, Willie.
Willie lives in Australia together with his mother in a mixed small community. The people in his community are extremely religious and so Willie is pushed to follow a career in this direction as well. The reason why his mother wants him to become a priest is not because Willie is religious but because she wants her son to be financially stable. This proves thus that for them, having money is more important than anything else.
Willie feels attracted by Rosie, a girl around his age from the church but he does not know how to talk with her. Because of this, she is attracted by a man named Lester who has the confidence Willie lacks. Instead of trying to win Rosie, Willie gives up and runs instead home to his mother.
That night, Willie goes to the pictures, hoping to see and talk with Rosie. Unfortunately, he is unable to do so because the rain prevents them from meeting. The rain has the purpose here of highlighting even more how hard it is for Willie to get close to Rosie and how he has to fight on many fronts to get her attention. The idea transmitted here is that even the universe tries to separate them and keep them away from one another.
Willie returns to the boarding school where he has Father Benedictus as a teacher. Despite trying hard, he is unable to stop himself from lusting after Rosie so he confesses this to Father Benedictus who urges him to perform penance. Father Benedictus also tells Willie he will never become a priest until he gives up his sinful thoughts so Willie is torn between his desire to be happy and to experience love.
Willie runs away from the school when Father Benedictus wants to punish him from stealing some food from the kithen. Just before striking him, Father Benedictus blames Willie’s aboriginal origins for his bad behavior but Willie refuses to accept this. Instead, he stands up for himself, proud of his origins.
That night, Willie meets a group of homeless men. He starts talking about a man who turned out to be from the same city as Willie. The group also talks about the idea of home and how none of them have one. This could mean that they are homeless but this could also transmit the idea that the aboriginals felt shunned from their own lands and without a home because the white population looked at them with hate and contempt. The man, Uncle Tadpole expresses his desire to return to his hometown before dying, thus transmitting the idea that despite the situation in the country, some aboriginals still wanted to reclaim their land and feel as if they belonged.
Uncle Tadpole promises Willie to take him back home but the next day he can’t remember their conversation. What is more, he tricks Willie into giving his money and Uncle Tadpole goes to drink. Many aboriginal characters in the play have a drinking problem and this is also true in the real life. Many people found a refuge in alcohol and drugs and for them it represented a way of coping with the present. While it is not clearly stated, it is implied that alcoholism is a real problem in the community and many people abuse certain substances as a result of the hard life they are having.
Uncle Tadpole throws himself in front of a van and convinces the couple in the van, Slippery and Annie, agree to take them to Broome without really knowing where the town is located. Uncle Tadpole keeps Slippery interested by pretending to have aboriginal knowledge. Uncle Tadpole mentions certain magical practices which are not true but Slippery is fascinated. This also proves that the outside world saw the aboriginals as being freaks, people that could be entertaining to an extent.
Slippery wants to drop the two off, not buying into their story but Uncle Tadpole threatens to curse them and Annie convinces him to continue driving them. The reason why Annie wants to continue traveling with them is not because she wants to help them, but because she wants to experience the country ‘’first hand’’. This shows once more that the aboriginals were seen only as entertainment by the others from outside the country.
One the road, Willie sees Annie and Slippery interact with one another and he starts thinking about Rosie and how he would like to be affectionate with her as well. Willie encounters another sexually driven woman in a gas station who implies that she would be more than happy to have sex with him. Willie’s sexual drive is highlighted even more when Uncle Tadpole sticks a few stolen sausages into Willie’s pants and they later fall from them in a rather suggestive way. This shows that Willie is just beginning to understand his sexuality and his urges.
Willie almost has his first sexual experience after he jumps into a truck carrying a football team which stops at a bar. There, he meets a drunken older woman named Roxanne who takes Willie to the condom tree. There, she tries to have sex with him but the two are discovered by her abusive partner. When Willie asks his Uncle how he found him there, he claims there ‘’everyone arrives at the Condom Tree’’, hinting thus that sexuality is something everyone discovers and experiments with.
Another important scene to analyze is the one in which everyone from the van is arrested. Even though Slippery and Annie are behaving in a violent manner, they are treated kindly. Willie on the other hand, is punched in the stomach before he is put into a cell, showing thus how the aboriginal were abused by the police as well for the simple fact they were different.
The next day, the van arrives in Broome and they stop at the bar where Rosie is singing. Rosie refuses to speak with Willie because she thinks the reason why he left is because he was ashamed of her. When Willie tells her how he was afraid to confess his feelings, a fight starts between him and Leslie. During the fight, Willie confesses to Rosie and tells her he loves her.
The fight could be seen here as a symbolic moment, as being the instance when Willie’s determination won against his shyness and fears. Even though Leslie, or the fears, knocked him down, Willie stood up and confessed his feelings to the girl he loved.
A temperance march stops the fight and everyone is invited to come with the rest of the believers in the march to the beach to confess. The people who remain at the bar are Leslie and Roxanne and this may transmit the idea that the two characters are beyond saving.
At the beach, everyone confesses their sinful past and find peace. The beach is a cathartic place, where they feel safe and not judged. After every sin is out, the characters feel at peace and they return home. The play ends with the main characters sitting at a table, having dinner together. The dinner is the last event presented in the play and is a symbol for peace and recollection.
