WIP: The Incident

“There’s no hiding from the bad bits. That past informs the rules we live and play by now”

- Adam Goodes

("looking forward to seeing this wonderful project realised")

I’m honoured to have been commissioned by Linda Thompson and ACOCO to write about the inspiring Adam Goodes and our shared journeys.

The end game for me is to create a safe space for people to embrace the lullaby of humanity and come back to the grass roots of how we walk and share the journey of life together.

It’s my job to take the audience on a journey musically but also to take them to that sacred place, which for me is the horizon, symbolically the sunrises and sunsets, where there is the continuum of life, death, culture, rebirth, ceremony.

Things that we take for granted sometimes in this modern day - we are able to reflect in that ceremonial space.

The connection and positive relationships with humanity have always been there.

We just have to take the time to listen to one another without judgment and through such a story like THE INCIDENT we have a chance to address something front on with the intention of bringing people together for a better understanding of each others cultures and practices.

The strength and spirit with come through the language and the music of our mother country.

Through Linda’s powerful libretto we have something truly Australian, truly genuine in storytelling and truly unique, a story of resilience, understanding, cultural awareness, respect and confronting racism at a very high level even in present times .

A story of love shared for a sports game, two families, one field.

The time is now to tell this story through ACOCO - THE INCIDENT

- William Barton

Photo by Keith Saunders

The Incident

A New Australian Opera in Two Acts

In May of 2013 at the MCG there was an interaction between an Indigenous footballer (Adam Goodes) and a young spectator. Over the following days and weeks, this incident brought to the fore the deep wounds and contradictions that exist in Australia’s national identity.

Australian Contemporary Opera Company has commissioned William Barton to write an opera, based loosely around this episode. THE INCIDENT holds a mirror to core issues of Australian identity.

'That day' at the football unfolds in the opera as seen through the lens of two Australian families from very different backgrounds, and raises critical questions for all Australians as we journey on our inevitable path to confront our history and move toward authentic reconciliation.

Performing arts and sport share an extraordinary power to shape and change social fabric - using operatic story-telling we want to delight in beauty and artistry, provoke reflection and conversation, and contribute to societal healing. As a work of contemporary Australian art, this piece will be in the repertory for all time; a cultural marker of a significant turning point in Australia's reckoning with its past.

THE INCIDENT is the operatic debut of William Barton, Australia's leading Indigenous composer. At least half the cast and creative team are First Nations performers and practitioners, and ACOCo has partnered with William Barton, his management team and creative Elders for respectful engagement and First Nations advice and guidance. Professor N'arwee't Carolyn Briggs AM and Tanya Hosch have endorsed the project.

Join us by taking a role in creating this brand new opera, by joining THE INCIDENT COMMISSION CONSORTIUM.

Your contribution will see international publication of William Barton's first ever opera score. You'll receive WIP reports, invitation to workshop and stakeholder showings, and an exclusive invitation to celebrate the completion of the opera as we head towards the world premiere in 2026.

To find out more, please contact:

Catherine Manning

c.manning@acoco.org.au