The anniversary: A screenplay based on an historical crime

This screenplay is a fictionalised version of the events in Sydney, Australia, in 1894, that led to the criminal sensation that was known as ‘The Dean Case’. When, on the date of George Dean’s first wedding anniversary, he was arrested for attempting to murder Mary, his 20-year-old wife and mother of his 10-week-old baby girl, this case aroused intense public interest. This screenplay dramatises those events, suggesting both a range of motivations for George Dean’s crime as well as emphasising Mary Dean’s vulnerability and bravery in the face of the prolonged domestic abuse she suffered.This screenplay is a result of sustained enquiry into the following research question: What forms of biographically-informed writing can express the lives of women who are not well represented in the documentary archive?