GUURANDA
Written and
directed by Artistic Director Jacob Boehme. Narrunga Elders, dramaturges and
cultural consultants- Uncle Rex
Angie,Auntie Deanna Newchurch, Uncle Eddie Newchurch, Auntie Ninni. Singers –
Sonya Rankine, Warren Milera, Narungga Family Choir. Choir director Grace
Robinson. Associate choreographers and performers. Caleena Sansbury, Chandler
(Cheeky) Connell, Edan Porter,Luke Currie Richardson,Jordan O’Davis, Shana
O’Brien, Zoe Brown-Holten.Narungga Song Woman and translator Sonya Rankine.
Narrunga Translator Tania Wanganeen. Visual Artist. Kylie O’Loughlin. Composer
James Henry.Dramaturge Chris Mead. Staging and Lighting design Jenny Hector.
Audio-visual design Keith Deverell. Costume design and textile art finishing
Kathryn Sproul. Puppet designer and maker Phillip Millar. Leatherworker Sue
Manski. Executive producer Jason Cross. Associate producer. Stella Webster. Her
Majesty’s Theatre. Adelaide Festival 2024.
Reviewed by
Peter Wilkins
A powerful sense
of culture and community permeates writer, director and choreographer Jacob
Boehme’s production of Guuranda.
Using spoken narrative, dance, music, song, puppetry and animation, Boehme and
his collaborative artists weave a fascinating tribute to his family, their
stories , connection to country and creation. As audience enters they see a
projected image of fire smoking on either side of the proscenium arch which then
merges into a large videoed projection of singers Sonya Rankine and Warren
MIlera . On stage the dancers draw us into their mesmerizing enactment of
intergenerational experience and myths through tens of thousands of years. They
are the storytellers of of time, told through their dance and accompanied by
music, song and visual storytelling.
Guuranda , the
Narungga name for Yorke Peninsula, is told through three stories passed down
through time by generations of storytellers. Buthera tells of the giant Buthera who threw a rock that split the
land into four separate islands. He hurled his club from Wardang Island where
an imprint of his foot remains and killed a fisherwoman miles away. She turned
into a stone. The stories are the myths of a people who have lived on the land
for centuries and Boehme’s compelling opus to family and country is a testament
to the enduring nature of their connection with country, its laws and its
spiritual power. It is in the dancers’ enactments of the stories of Buthera and
his fate, Gadli and
the boy who told lies and was turned into a dingo by Windara the wind spirit,
and finally the story of the creation of Spencer’s Gulf when a war between the
animals caused the earth to split and the sea to tumble in, coinciding with the
geological event 11,000 years ago.
The richness of
the stories inspires the dance and James Henry’s stirring composition. The Narungga Family
Choir provides a choral accompaniment, sung with singers Ray and Milera by men,
women and children of Narungga country. They exude respect and love for country
and its laws. Phillip Millar’s superbly constructed puppets and Kylie
O’Loughlin’s animated charcoal sketches of the characters bring to life the
conflicts, the customs, the laws and the beliefs of a culture that stretches
back almost 60,00 years in time.
Guuranda charms and
bewitches, teaches and inspires. Its stories are a pathway to understanding.
Its offering a signpost to reconciliation. Its artistry is an uplifting and
heartwarming reflection of human nature and the human spirit. It is told with
humility in the songs, the dance, and the Elder Auntie’s account of her life on
Narungga country. It offers an audience unfamiliar with the indigenous history
and stories of Yorke Peninsula insight and inspiration. My understanding and
appreciation of the visually and aurally evocative production would have welcomed
surtitles to help those without the language to understand more deeply the
power of song and storytelling in Narrunga culture and history. A reading of
the programme in advance would also help audiences to gain a deeper insight and
appreciation.
Guuranda is a salute to family and intergenerational memory. It is also a salute to individualism and community, co-existing and bound by culture and tradition. Humanity is enriched by shared knowledge and understanding of different cultures. Guuranda is a voice of hope for the homogeneity of the human spirit. It deserved its standing ovation and deserves a wider audience.
As the audience
began to exit a video started to play. Four
Elders sat at a table and one offered to keep sharing stories but it was
time to go, and one took the lead to leave. It can wait for another day.
The inherent
humour of these gentle, unassuming and kind people was not lost on the audience
as they left and the imagery of their stories will linger for a long time to
come.
Photos by Tim
Standing
