Jandamarra Returns, The Kimberley, 2011
“When the actor shouts “Here!” we feel the weird profundity of return, the privilege of seeing a story knitted so utterly to its originating place ... We can’t really speak when the production finishes. There is the shyness, the reserve, that true artworks inspire.”
– Gail Jones, The Monthly
After the initial season in Perth in 2008 we set ourselves the objective of taking the show home to the Kimberley. It took us three years to achieve this, but we could not be happier with, or prouder of the result …
“Bunuba Films believes that by any measure the Jandamarra Tour was a resounding success. It was a landmark event in the Kimberley. On a per capita ratio, given the Kimberley population of 40,000, the overall attendance of 5,097 equates to attendances in Perth of 200,000 people. It was mounted and successfully run by a small, independent Indigenous company from Fitzroy Crossing with no permanent staff, infrastructure or reserves.
– Official Tour Report, Bunuba Films, November 2011
This is one of my proudest achievements, as a writer, but more especially in my role as the project producer. With director / dramaturge Phil Thompson and my Bunuba collaborators we totally reworked the script.
With Ningali Lawford unavailable to reprise her role as Jandamarra’s mother Jini, Bunuba elder Patsy Bedford, stepped forward to make her stage debut, and performed magnificently. We raised a touch under a million dollars and made another $150,000 in box office, and mounted a fully professional production that toured the length and breadth of the Kimberley.
The play script, as performed on this 2011 tour, is available in book form from Currency Press.
More info, reviews and photos can be found in the Tour Report.
Reviews
“A triumph of logistics, persistence and passion … Jandamarra has many of the qualities of an ancient Greek myth-based drama, with its themes of hubris, betrayal, violence, magic and a hero tragically conflicted in his loyalties while tormented by an angry god … its best moments come with its representation of Bunuba culture and insights into clan affairs.”
“Jandamarra, a play honouring the life of the Bunuba lawman and warrior who led a battle of resistance, is performed in situ and in language … The theatrical production tracks Jandamarra’s return to his people, and endorses his gradual achievement of mythic status. From time to time the backdrop – the rockface of Windjana Gorge – is brilliantly illuminated, stunning its audience with altered scale and otherworldly dimensions. My brother says it makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and I understand what he means … When the actor shouts “Here!” we feel the weird profundity of return, the privilege of seeing a story knitted so utterly to its originating place ... We can’t really speak when the production finishes. There is the shyness, the reserve, that true artworks inspire. ”
“The ghost of Jandamarra has returned to the warrior’s Kimberley heartland in a spectacular production … Not many theatrical shows can claim to create history, but Jandamarra can make that claim … This fine retelling of the Jandamarra story has many strengths … The spiritual aspects of the story are given prominence, aided by beautiful abstracted imagery by Bunuba artist Kaylene Marr (and) composer David Pye’s atmospheric soundscape …
There are magical moments which hint at other ways of conveying meaning – like Trevor Ryan, as tracker Mingo Mick, conjuring up magical power to track down Jandamarra and blowing it to the four winds in a dramatic gesture of hands. Or Emmanuel Brown’s brilliantly funny cameo role as Jacky, a fawning, limping comic figure with a style of humour Aboriginal people in the audience immediately recognized and applauded.”
Images from the 2011 production at Windjana Gorge