Winyanboga Yurringa — Belvoir St Theatre

Overview

Winyanboga Yurringa explores the life stories of six very different Indigenous Australian women, exploring what's known in Aboriginal culture as 'women's business'.

Written by playwright and recipient of the 2015 NSW Aboriginal Art Fellowship Andrea James, the play depicts a revelatory camping trip as the six main characters interrogate their links with their homeland, heritage and with each other, as guided by their auntie, sister and cousin Neecy.

Cue contemplations of identity, appearance, belonging, finding partners and tackling prejudice. It's a complex and compelling theatre work, directed by Anthea Williams and starring Roxanne McDonald, Tuuli Narkle, Angeline Penrith, Tasma Walton, Dalara Williams and Dubs Yunupingu.

Having first appeared as a full length work at Carriageworks through Moogahlin Performing Arts in 2016, this groundbreaking play began its life as a short-play commissioned as a continuation of the landmark SBS series Women of the Sun — a production that earned acclaim for not just delving into female Indigenous experiences of the past, but for becoming the first television program ever to do so. It's a production that speaks to the fullness of life in Australia as an Indigenous woman, oscillates between the very real and the sublime, and champions voices that are often left unacknowledged.

Running over three weeks in May, Winyanboga Yurringa is presented by Belvoir St Theatre in association with Indigenous theatre Moogahlin Performing Arts and supported by The Balnaves Foundation.

Winyanboga Yuringa will run at Belvoir St Theatre's Upstairs Theatre from Thursday, May 4 to Friday, May 26. To purchase tickets, head to Belvoir's website.