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Bindjareb Pinjarra
The Pinjarra Project
- Venue: Space Theatre
- When: Wed 29 Feb 02:55 PM - 03:20 PM
- Genre: Theatre
- Main Audience: All Ages
- No. in touring party: 6
Bindjareb Pinjarra
An improvised comedy about a massacre?! Kaya! (Yes!)
Bindjareb Pinjarra is a totally unique play about the 1834 massacre of Nyoongar people by Governor Stirling's troops at Pinjarra, 90 kms south of Perth, Western Australia.
Bindjareb Pinjarra has no written script and was created using a mix of traditional Indigenous storytelling and Western theatre techniques. It tells a tragic story with great sensitivity, courage and devilish humour.
Hilarious comedy, dramatic conflict and tough physical theatre switch the audience between the past and present to highlight conditions that led to the masscare and to relations between Nyoongars & Wadjellas (whitefellas) in Western Australia today.
Created and performed by Indigenous and non-Indigenous actors, Bindjareb Pinjarra is a compelling mix of improvisation and tightly rehearsed scenes. Though it recounts one of the bloodiest days in Western Australia's history it remarkably manages to be one of the funniest shows you'll ever see.
Bindjareb Pinjarra illustrates how black and white Australians are all part of the same history, and how by honouring that history we can move forward together to create a better future as one people.
The Pinjarra Project
Bindjareb Pinjarra is performed by 3 Nyoongar (Indigenous) & 3 Wadjella (whitefella) Western Australian actors: Kelton Pell, Frank Nannup, Isaac Drandic, Geoff Kelso, Phil Thomson and Sam Longley.
Bindjareb Pinjarra was originally created in 1994 by Pell, Kelso, Thomson and Trevor Parfitt, all of whom had considerable experience in scripted and improvised theatre. The show toured extensively throughout Australia from 1995 to 2001.
Sadly, Trevor Parfitt passed away in 2007 and when the show was re-mounted in 2009 - at the request of the Pinjarra Nyoongar community - Trevor’s place was taken by Frank Nannup. Frank Nannup is a descendent of the survivors of the Pinjarra Massacre, a very respected performer and Nyoongar elder and an old friend of Trevor Parfitt’s.
Bindjareb Pinjarra was created in the tradition of Indigenous oral storytelling and in that same tradition the story is now being passed to a younger generation of performers, Isaac Drandic and Sam Longley.
Isaac Drandic is a young Nyoongar actor with an excellent track record in live theatre, and Sam Longley is a brilliant comedian and improviser. Their inclusion in and contributions to Bindjareb Pinjarra have taken the play to another level.
Photo: The Pinjarra Project
CONTACT
Co-creator & Co-director, The Pinjarra Project
Bayswater WA 6053
