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Artwork for The Black Woman of Gippsland
The Black Woman of Gippsland

5  —  31 MAY 2025

Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

A gripping modern mystery from Victoria’s dark past, written and directed by Andrea James (Sunshine Super Girl) and set on her grandmother’s country.

Community Night
First Nations community are invited to purchase $5 tickets* to the Community Night on Wednesday 7 May at 7.30pm. Click here to book. 

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Blaktix are $29 (plus booking fee) and available for all performances for First Nations community.

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This is rated 5 out of 5 stars

‘A monumental and magical theatre experience.’

Time Out on Sunshine Super Girl
This is rated 4 out of 5 stars

‘A hypnotic spectacle.’

The Guardian on Sunshine Super Girl

ABOUT THE SHOW

From Andrea James (Sunshine Super Girl) comes The Black Woman of Gippsland – a story of Victoria’s dark past that is in dire need of revisiting, told as a thrilling modern mystery that unfolds with beauty, tragedy and rebellion.

A woman is tossed ashore from the sea, bedraggled and lost. A century and a half later, another finds herself diving deep into the truth behind a lingering legend.

Jacinta’s family is driving her up the wall and her academic career is floundering, but amongst the books, something doesn’t feel right about the story history tells. The myths and half-truths that surround the figure of a ‘white woman’ said to have lived among the Gunaikurnai people of Gippsland in the 1840s are so abundant it seems the reality is out of reach. But Jacinta is determined to unearth the truth for herself and her Gunaikurnai family no matter the twists and turns the journey might take her on.

Based on real events and set on Andrea’s grandmother’s country, The Black Woman of Gippsland is a poetic, emotionally rich and clever embracing of First Nations stories that have long been silenced.

Presented in association with
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Commissioned and developed through Melbourne Theatre Company’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program, with the support of our Playwrights Giving Circle.

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair Accessible

  • Hearing Assistance

  • Audio Described

  • Tactile Tour

  • Open Captioning

  • Closed Captioning

  • Auslan Interpreted

Performance Type Performance Date(s)
Audio Described
by Vision Australia 		Saturday 17 May at 2pm
Tuesday 20 May at 6.30pm
Tactile Tour
at venue 		Saturday 17 May at 2pm (Tactile tour commences at 1pm)
Open Captioning
via screen 		Saturday 24 May at 2pm
Closed Captioning
via GoTheatrical App 		Saturday 24 May at 2pm
Auslan Interpreted More information here
Artwork for Zach Blampied

Zach Blampied

Kyle/Willambulung/Ensemble

Zach Blampied is a proud Yorta/Yorta and Wiradjuri, Naarm/Melbourne-based performer who returns to Melbourne Theatre Company following A Wake - A Woke Mob. He graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in 2023. Zach's theatre credits include Conversations with the Dead (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company); Lion Tattoo (Red Stitch Actors' Theatre) and Melbourne Theatre Company's 2021 Cybec Electric play readings. His screen credits include Invisible Boys (Stan), the Logie-nominated series New Gold Mountain (SBS) and Mustangs (ABC/Matchbox Pictures). At VCA, Zach was awarded the Irene Mitchell Award for excellence in Acting. He was a part of Palace of Illusions (dir. Sonya Suarez), Sweat (dir. Tasnim Hossain), playing the role of Chris, and 37 (dir. Isaac Drandic), playing Sonny.

Artwork for Chenoa Deemal

Chenoa Deemal

Jacinta/Ensemble

Chenoa Deemal is a proud Thiithaarr Warra (Guugu Yimithirr), Kaanju and Ayapathu woman. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) from Queensland University of Technology, and an Advanced Diploma of the Performing Arts from the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA). Chenoa’s theatre credits include Pride and Prejudice, The Longest Minute, The Seven Stages of Grieving (with Grin & Tonic), An Octoroon, Mother Courage and Her Children, St Mary’s in Exile (Queensland Theatre); TIDDAS (La Boite Theatre Company); Caesar (La Boite Theatre Company; Rising (Playlab); Black Cockatoo, Sorting Out Rachel (Ensemble Theatre Company); Rainbow’s End (Riverside Theatres). Chenoa’s screen credits include Safe Home, Troppo, Summer Love and Splatalot. She won the Matilda Award for Best Performance in a Leading Role for Is That You, Ruthie?, directed by Leah Purcell.

Artwork for Brent Watkins

Brent Watkins

Performer

Brent Watkins is a Gunai Kurni man from southeastern Victoria with Noongar Yamatji ancestry from WA. He currently lives on Wurrundjeri and Boon Wurrung land in Naarm/Melbourne. Inspired by his Nan, Kurni woman Rita Watkins, Brent follows her legacy of fighting for country and community for his son and generations to come. Brent is a dancer (traditional/hip hop), didgeridoo player, visual artist, and educator, known for his contributions to Melbourne's cultural arts scene. Since a young age, Brent has taught, performed, and sold artwork globally, reaching customers in five countries. After working at Mia Mia Gallery when he left school, he created Culture Evolves, drawing from his ancestral epistemology combined with contemporary narratives to highlight the struggles First Nations people experience in Australia today.

Artwork for Ursula Yovich

Ursula Yovich

Auntie Rochelle/Ensemble

Ursula Yovich is an award-winning actor, playwright, singer, songwriter and storyteller. Her theatre credits include creating and originating the titular role in Barbara and the Camp Dogs (Belvoir); as well as Well Behaved Women, 20 Questions, A Christmas Carol, The Dreamers, The Governor’s Family, Bloodland, The Golden Age, Love and Information, The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui, The Secret River, Seven Stages of Grieving, The Lewis Trilogy, Diving for Pearls and Nailed. Her film credits include Top End Wedding, Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, Around the Block, Goldstone and Jindabyne. Her small screen credits include The Gods of Wheat Street, Mystery Road, Preppers, Rake, Redfern Now, Wakefield, The Moth Effect, The Twelve, Irreverent, The Code, Doctor Doctor, Wanted and Devil’s Dust. Ursula won a Best Supporting Actor Film Critic’s Circle Award in 2020 and was nominated for an AACTA for Best Supporting Actor for Top End Wedding. She also won a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical for Barbara and the Camp Dogs.

Ian Bliss

Ian Bliss

Sergeant/Ensemble

Ian Bliss’s theatre credits include My Sister Jill, Jasper Jones, North by Northwest, Hamlet, Apologia and Richard III (Melbourne Theatre Company); War Horse (National Theatre of Great Britain); Savage River (Griffin Theatre Company); Silhouette (Marian Street); Lone Star (Belvoir) and Journey’s End (Athenaeum Theatre). Selected TV credits include Utopia, Safe Home, Informer 3838, Harrow, Wentworth, Gallipoli, Blue Murder, McLeod’s Daughters, Home and Away, Heartbreak High, Underbelly, and The Pacific. Film credits include Late Night with the Devil, Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears, The Bank, Siam Sunset, Powder Burn, The Long Lunch, Country Life, Playing for Charlie, Siam Sunset and US blockbusters The Matrix: Revolutions, The Matrix: Reloaded, Superman Returns and Stealth. Most recent awards and nominations include Australian Film Critics Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Late Night with the Devil), Green Room Award Winner Best Production & Best Ensemble (My Sister Jill), Helpmann Award Nomination for Best Musical (Dream Lover), and a Logie Award for Most Popular Dra­­ma Program (Wentworth).

Artwork for Andrea James

Andrea James

Writer & Director

Andrea is a Yorta Yorta/Gunaikurnai theatremaker and graduate of VCA. Her plays include Big Name No Blankets (co-written with Sammy and Anyupa Butcher), Yanagai! Yanagai! (premiered at Playbox in 2004 and toured to the UK), and with Cath Ryan, Dogged (Griffin Theatre Company). Her play Sunshine Super Girl premiered at Griffith Regional Theatre in 2020, then 2021 Sydney Festival before an extensive national tour. Andrea is currently Associate Artistic Director at Griffin Theatre Company where she directed Ghosting the Party by Melissa Bubnic in 2022, Jailbaby by Suzie Miller in 2023 and swim by Ellen Van Neerven in 2024. Previous positions include Artistic Director of Melbourne Workers Theatre (2001-2008), Aboriginal Arts Development Officer at Blacktown Arts Centre (2010-2012) and Aboriginal Producer at Carriageworks (2012-2016). Andrea was recently awarded the Mona Brand Award for Women Stage and Screen Writers. She was a recipient of British Council’s Accelerate Program for Aboriginal Art Leaders and was awarded a Creative Australia National Theatre Award in 2024.

Artwork for Romanie Harper

Romanie Harper

Set & Costume Designer

Romanie Harper is a designer based in Naarm/Melbourne. Recent design credits include Meet Me at Dawn, Sunshine Super Girl, Girls & Boys and The Violent Outburst That Drew Me To You (Melbourne Theatre Company); 8/8/8: WORK (Rising Festival); The Cherry Orchard and Packer and Sons (Belvoir); What Am I Supposed to Do? and Equinox (Deep Soulful Sweats); Australian Realness, Trustees, Good Muslim Boy, Little Emperors and Turbine (Malthouse Theatre); Hercules, Die! Die! Die! Old People Die!, We All Know What’s Happening and Never Trust A Creative City (Arts House); Contest and Moral Panic (Darebin Speakeasy); Runt, This Is Eden, Resident Alien and Triumph (fortyfivedownstairs); and M+M (Daniel Schlusser Ensemble).

Verity Hampson

Verity Hampson

Lighting Designer

Verity Hampson is an award-winning lighting and projections designer for theatre, dance, opera, film and television. This is her debut with Melbourne Theatre Company. Other theatre credits include Sweat, Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, City of Gold (with Black Swan State Theatre Company); Grand Horizons (Sydney Theatre Company); The Drover’s Wife, Faith Healer (Belvoir); Henry V, Twelfth Night, Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Literati, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bell Shakespeare); Nucelus, Jailbaby, Blaque Showgirls, Pony, The Bleeding Tree (Griffin Theatre Company); Death of a Salesman (Queensland Theatre); One the Bear, Blackrock, La Voix Humane (La Boite); The Glass Menagerie, The Heartbreak Choir, Murder at Hamlington Hall (Ensemble Theatre); Wake in Fright, Fiery Maze (Malthouse Theatre); Zombie! The Musical, Lizzie (Hayes Theatre). Her awards include a Green Room Award for Best Mainstage Lighting Design (Blackie Blackie Brown) and an APDG Award for Best Lighting Design (Death of a Salesman).

Artwork for James Henry

James Henry

Composer & Sound Designer

James Henry has worked as a composer and sound designer on various productions, including Blak in the Room, 37, Admissions, Jacky (Melbourne Theatre Company); An Octaroon (Queensland Theatre). He received a Green Room Award in 2023 for Sound Design of Heart is a Wasteland (ILBIJERRI Theatre), in collaboration with Gary Watling and Lidia Fairhall. His versatile skill set extends to composing for renowned ensembles, such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and others. As a cultural advocate, he plays a vital role in revitalising indigenous languages through music. His recent fellowship deepened his understanding of traditional Aboriginal music, enabling seamless integration into contemporary contexts. James earned recognition, receiving a nomination for Best Documentary Score at the 2022 AACTA Awards. James Henry's contributions extend beyond the stage, making him a significant figure in the cultural tapestry, bridging traditions and contemporary expressions.

Artwork for Rhian Hinkley

Rhian Hinkley

AV Designer

Rhian Hinkley is a filmmaker and artist based in Naarm/Melbourne. He has a longstanding relationship with Back to Back Theatre, creating the video components most recently for Multiple Bad Things, as well as The shadow who’s prey the hunter becomes, Lady eats Apple, Ganesh Versus The Third Reich, Food Court and Soft. He has directed numerous versions of The Democratic Set and Radial film projects for Back to Back Theatre including Hong Kong, Edinburgh, Frieburg, Berlin and Dundee. His work with choreographer Sandra Parker includes Out of Light, Document, The Recording, Small Details and All Day and All Night. Other design credits include Origami (BalletLab) and Stephanie Lake’s Aorta (Chunky Move). In 2024, Rhian and his daughter Ivy were guest artists for Mammalian Dive Reflex at the Humboldt Forum Berlin where they directed Break It Make it Fake it.

Artwork for Brent Watkins

Brent Watkins

Choreographer

Brent Watkins is a Gunai Kurni man from southeastern Victoria with Noongar Yamatji ancestry from WA. He currently lives on Wurrundjeri and Boon Wurrung land in Naarm/Melbourne. Inspired by his Nan, Kurni woman Rita Watkins, Brent follows her legacy of fighting for country and community for his son and generations to come. Brent is a dancer (traditional/hip hop), didgeridoo player, visual artist, and educator, known for his contributions to Melbourne's cultural arts scene. Since a young age, Brent has taught, performed, and sold artwork globally, reaching customers in five countries. After working at Mia Mia Gallery when he left school, he created Culture Evolves, drawing from his ancestral epistemology combined with contemporary narratives to highlight the struggles First Nations people experience in Australia today.

Artwork for Jacob Boehme

Jacob Boehme

Movement Dramaturge

Artwork for Wayne Thorpe

Wayne Thorpe

Gunnai Cultural Consultant for the Gunaikurnai

Wayne Thorpe is of the Gunnai and Yorta Yorta tribal family groups. Wayne has presented cultural awareness sessions and Welcome and Smoking ceremonies throughout Gunnai / Kurnai country (Gippsland), as well as inspired people to understand the culture through the stories and history of country. He has promoted culture through the language of songs, stories and dance to help the healing of the people and nature since 1984. This is the first engagement with a theatre company for Wayne. His brief education and research background includes Cultural Ceremony with Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison in Gunnai and Yuin countries since 2011 to present day; Med. Masters of Education at Monash University Gippsland (2008-2011) where he wrote a thesis titled WATBALIMBA – Language of Song Story and Dance; and a Batchelor of the Arts in Linguistics, majoring in Community Sociolinguistics at Bachelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education in Northern Territory (2002-2007).

Artwork for Amy Sole

Amy Sole

Associate Director

Amy Sole is a proud Wiradjuri/Worimi person. Amy is an award-winning playwright, director, actor, dramaturg and advocate. They are Creative Associate at ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and a graduate of MFA (Directing) at NIDA and hold a Master of Theatre (Playwriting) from VCA. Recent directorial works for theatre include The Robot Dog, Emu in the Sun, part of Blak in the Room (Melbourne Theatre Company); Scar Trees (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company); Whitefella Yella Tree (Grifin Theatre Company); Forgetting Tim Minchin (25a, Downstairs Belvoir); Benched (Darlinghurst Theatre Company) and Burning (NIDA). Amy regularly directs and dramaturgs developments of new works, some include Phoebe Grainer’s Sugarcane for the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award, Dylan Ven Den Berg’s waybackwhen at Darlinghurst Theatre Company and Big Name No Blankets at ILBIJERRI Theatre Company. They have worked as assistant director on God's Country (NIDA, 2022), Metamorphoses (NIDA, 2021), and RENT (Sydney Opera House, 2021). They are a part of Melbourne Theatre Company's Artistic Associate Advisory Council, and a sitting Co-Chair of the Equity Diversity Committee.

Patricia-Cornelius.png

Patricia Cornelius

Dramaturg

Artwork for Jennifer Medway

Jennifer Medway

Dramaturg

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140 Southbank Boulevard

Southbank, Victoria 3006