'A poignant exploration of pain, grief, healing and the myriad ways in which we process these complex emotions.'
'Elegantly layered into a family history of three generations of women.'
About The Show
Originally conceived as part of Blak in the Room, a collaboration between ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company, celebrating emerging female First Peoples playwrights. Gunawarra Re-Creation adapts its narrative from the traditional Kulin Nations story of Gunawarra; the black swan, and how they came to have black feathers.
Set on Taun Wurrung country, the play traverses Blak women’s strength, survival and healing in a profoundly emotive production, with the remounted season directed by Artistic Director of ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, Andrea James.
In this powerful story of culture, memory and healing, Murrun returns to the watering hole; the same one her Aunty Aggie used to take her to. The sacred one. There, past and present collide. She meets her old friend Gunawarra. The Black Swan.
Gunawarra Re-Creation deals with creation stories. It deals with Taun Warrung (Taungurung) cultural, spiritual and religious beliefs. It also deals with the experience of violence to female bodies and the recovery from that violence. It has conversations about stolen generations and the way in which their trauma can be passed on to the next generation...
Creatives
Writer Isobel Morphy-Walsh (Nirim Baluk)
Director (Remounted Production) Andrea James (Yorta Yorta, Gunaikurnai)
Director (Premiere Production) Rachael Maza (Yidinji, Meriam)
Producer Phoebe Watson (Gunditjmara)
Set Designer Dann Barber (Gunditjmara)
Set and Costume Secondment Emma Salmon and Stone Turner
Lighting Designer Katie Sfetkidis
Sound Designer James Henry (Yuwaalaraay, Gamilaraay, Yorta Yorta and Yuin)
Sound Design Secondment Todd J. Bennett
Dramaturg Jules Orculllo (Yuwaalaraay, Gamilaraay, Yorta Yorta and Yuin)
Design Associate Emma Holgate
Image Benny Clark, 2024
