Over ten years of the Round Earth Theatre Company at Strahan, and work on Sarah Island as a guide, Davey's work has had significance in helping tourists understand the penal station and its context, where previously there had been scattered and not very accessible research. The Ship That Never Was, written by Davey, is Australia's longest-running play, with over 5,000 performances and continuing to be performed nightly at Strahan; it is about the Frederick escape, the successful escape of 10 convicts from Sarah Island to Chile.[3]
His book The Sarah Island Conspiracies: Being an account of twelve voyages to Macquarie Harbour and Sarah Island, which was short listed for a major prize in Hobart in 2005, complements the work of Richard Flanagan's Gould's Book of Fish. They both use the painting by William Buelow Gould of the Weedy sea dragon on the covers of their books.
Davey's long lasting interest in Shakespeare's King Lear[4][5] saw production in November 2007 of an adaptation The Madness of King Lear[6] in Hobart, Tasmania.
Davey died on 13 March 2013 after a long battle with illness.[7][8]
Davey, Richard; Pigot, Neil; Davey, Anita (1993), A bright and crimson flower, Crimson Flower Project, retrieved 17 April 2013
Davey, Richard, (2002) The Sarah Island conspiracies : being an account of twelve voyages made by one G.K. to Macquarie Harbour on the western coast of Van Diemens Land 1822–1833 Strahan, Tas. : Round Earth Co., ISBN0-9750051-0-3 (Reproduction of a memoir dated 1896 authored by an anonymous clerk G.K. )
^Davey, Richard, 1938–2013, (organizer.); Theatre Royal (Hobart, Tas.) (host institution); Zootango Theatre Company (Tas.) (issuing body) (1986), Scapegoats : Zootango presents Scapegoats, [Tasmania] Zootango, retrieved 30 August 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Davey, Richard; Carroll, Jeff, (composer,) (1986), The catfish that cried : an opera for children, Morley, Western Australia Published by Children's Activities Time Society (Inc), retrieved 30 August 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Davey, Richard; Round Earth Company (1995), A bright and crimson flower, The Round Earth Company, retrieved 30 August 2018
