Unveiling the Untold Magic: Making The Bounty Story – Part One

What if? Making ‘The Bounty Story’ – Part One

A single deed…

I have been publishing this magazine for over 15 years and have been fortunate to have gained a broad and thorough understanding of more aspects of Norfolk’s history than I ever could have envisioned or hoped for. I’ve published more varied articles and Norfolk Island content from a wider array of passionate and informed authors than anyone I know of.

From the very first issue I was captivated by Norfolk’s stories more than I had imagined I would be, and even today working on each publication feels almost like some sort of nagging addiction to learn more about this infinitely fascinating destination. In that first issue Kevin Adams wrote an article called, ‘Tahiti to Norfolk: A single deed can change the shape of the world’. Something resonated with me in Kevin’s article that has stayed with me since. It made me ponder the ‘What if?’ question of the Bounty mutiny, rather than focussing on the mutiny itself. What I took from that article more than any other was that the mutiny has defined each of our futures in some way, and the ramifications of the actions we all focus on, have far outweighed the significance of the actions themselves.

Whenever I have received an article about the Bounty and its sea-faring history since, it has sparked something in me. I’ve always been intrigued by ocean adventure and mystery, and I have long been fascinated by the ‘What ifs?’ it presents: What if the Bounty made it to Tahiti around Cape Horn as planned? What if Bligh hadn’t been so harsh? What if the mutiny never took place? For obvious reasons – questions like this are utterly compelling, but I am equally intrigued by the larger story. Many of the articles I receive that relate to modern-day Norfolk and are also a direct result of the Bounty mutiny, and it has made me acutely aware that the island’s history, stories, heritage and culture is today a uniquely woven fabric that shouldn’t really be unpicked through any singular event.

So, yes one moment changed the course of history in 1789, just as each decision we make has the power to change ours. On board the Bounty we can identify the mutiny as a defining moment, but which moments led to that one? Was it an uprising against tyranny? Was it an indulgent sailor fantasy for a better life that festered after months in Tahiti and spiralled out of control? We will simply never know. The truth is, the Bounty story begins long before Fletcher Christian and William Bligh ever came to blows, and perhaps more importantly, it will never end.

Pinpointing a moment in history can be a double-edged sword (or musket) when thinking about the Bounty saga. The very fact that the Pitcairn people existed is defining and tangible proof of the story’s existence. Just reading this publication and being on the Norfolk you know today is in some way a by-product of the mutiny. For me, all of this creates one question (which actually then becomes several questions), Why do we know the story? We know it because it’s been told, and we know the story well because it’s been told through many, many accounts by a broad section of people who have been affected by its events in a plethora of different ways.

We consider time to be linear, and one event along a timeline will affect and impact another, and another, and so on. Ultimately, this is how history is recorded. Pinpointing a moment in time that has triggered a specific series or chain of events is not unusual – in fact it’s an interesting proposition and many of us have done that in our own lives at some point.

What if Bligh never made it home?

William Bligh was set adrift from the Bounty with 18 supporters and proceeded to embark on one of the most revered ocean-going journeys in history. He sailed 4000 miles to the Dutch trading port of Coupang in Indonesia, without maps and charts, in Bounty’s overloaded launch boat. He survived by relying on his sea-faring skills, wits, determination, and most probably, a fair amount of luck.

Bligh’s voyage could just as easily have failed, losing his account to history. Bligh could simply have vanished in the ocean and there would probably not then have been a mission by the ship Pandora to round up the mutineers and Bounty. Pandora would never have wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef and then the remaining mutineers and supporters she rounded up in Tahiti may never have been returned to England to give their accounts, or to stand trial. .

What if Norfolk Island wasn’t settled by the British?

Norfolk Island was settled by the British in 1788, weeks after the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay. The island was abandoned in 1814 for 11 years before being resettled by the British and opened as a harsh and gruesome penal settlement in 1825. That settlement was wound up some 30 years later. Meanwhile, the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions had settled on Pitcairn in 1790 and their community had outgrown the tiny island in the proceeding decades. Queen Victoria eventually granted Norfolk Island to the Pitcairn Islanders, and they arrived onboard the Morayshire in 1856. The Pitcairn community became the Norfolk community we know today.

Norfolk Island’s own story dates back millions of years and there is absolutely no doubt it would be here, irrespective of what happened on board any ship 5000km east in 1789. Its natural environment would likely be as pristine as it is today, its climate exactly the same and its beauty still undeniable. There is little doubt the island would still be a fantastic home to many and a wondrous holiday destination, but the essence of its people and the feeling that we get from the warmth of its community would undoubtedly be different. Who would have come to make the island their home and what would that mean for us? It’s almost impossible to say, but it poses plenty of interesting ‘What if?’ questions.

What if we made a show about it?

In 2023 I was filming on Norfolk Island for a project and a chance meeting with Phil and Sarah Langley, owners of Pinetree Tours, led to a discussion about remaking the Bounty show which had run for several decades. Pinetrees’ Bounty show had not operated for a number of years and it was just waiting to be reinvented in a modern and slick way. It prompted the question: ‘What if?’ What if I gave it a go?

Faced with the exciting prospect to delve deeper into the Bounty saga, I began to read, and read. And then I began to write, and write. Somewhere along the line, through the challenge of working out what to leave in and what to leave out, I conceptualised a show, a screenplay, and a complex lighting arrangement I had envisaged to give the show greater impact.

I wanted to create a vibrant and engaging way to tell the complete Bounty story through a larger timeline of events than I had seen before, and I wanted the story to be told through the eyes of the people who had lived each part of that story – the people that had endured all of its hardships, witnessed all of its beauty, and ensured the fabric of all its parts remained woven together. The one constant in the story for me is the women of the Bounty saga, rather than the story’s more frequently referenced protagonists. The Polynesian women of the Bounty story and their descendants are quite simply the reason for its longevity.

I presented this concept to Pinetree Tours who were very receptive and supportive, and I set to work to put it all together. The goal of the show is to entertain, to inform, and through telling the complete Bounty story hopefully I can share why it’s as much a part of your Norfolk Island experience here today as it is my own.

To achieve this, I created an all-knowing character called ‘Voyager’. Voyager passionately tells us the complete Bounty story onboard the Morayshire en-route from Pitcairn Island to Norfolk Island in 1856. I wrote the screenplay specifically with an actor named Amber Lipman in mind. I had seen Amber perform in a play the previous year alongside my son, and her performance was so captivating that I knew I wanted to create a role for her and work with her somehow – I just didn’t know how at the time. Thankfully, I managed to cast Amber and she embraced the challenge of becoming ‘Voyager’. We began filming in early 2024 in a studio I set up to appear like the inside of a ship. I had already filmed segments of breakaway footage for the show at a Tall Ships Festival in 2023 in Hartlepool, as well as filming in Whitby and London in the UK, and Sydney, Australia. I also had a vast amount of footage from years of filming on Norfolk Island to rely upon too. A more in-depth look at the story of filming the show is the focus for Part Two of this article which will be released in the next issue of Discover Norfolk and available online.

What if you go and see the show?

Exploring some of the Bounty story’s many questions and looking at the timeline as a whole is something that I had wanted to do for a long time. My own history only came into the modern day Bounty story at the turn of the millennium – a late-comer by any standards. Still, despite all the thousands of ‘What if?’ questions we can ask ourselves, the fact remains that had Fletcher Christian not stormed in to Bligh’s quarters in April 1789, its highly likely my own story would be vastly different. I mostly likely would never have come to the Norfolk Island you know today, and neither would you!

We are all connected in space and time somehow, but that presents existential questions that are far more complex to ponder. For now, look around and have think about how the Bounty story affects you on Norfolk – you’ll find it effects every single part of your stay. There are many parts of the Bounty story that would happen differently today, as there are with most stories, but that’s the thing about history – it’s already been written, and I for one am thankful for it. For now, the most relevant question I suppose is, ‘What if I go and see the show?’

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Image Credit: Robin Nisbet
www.robinnisbet.com

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Article content disclaimer: Article first published in Discover Norfolk, Volume 07 Issue 02, 2024. Please note that details of specific travel, accommodation and touring options may be outdated. References to people, places and businesses, including operating days and times may be have changed. References to Government structure and Government businesses/entities may no longer be applicable. Please check directly with businesses and/or Government websites directly rather than relying on any information contained in this article before you make travel arrangements.