Big Name No Blankets by Andrea James.
Co-directed by Dr. Rachel Maza AM and Anyupa Butcher. Music Director Gary Watling Cinematographer & Sound Designer James Henry Sound Arrangements and Composition Crystal Butcher Sound Arrangements and Composition Mentor David Bridie Set Designer Emily Barrie Lighting Designer Jenny Hector Costume Designer Heidi Brooks Video Content Designer Sean Bacon Animation Patricia McKean and Guck Core Band Gary Watling, Jason Butcher, Jeremiah Butcher, Malcom Beveridge Performers Baykali Ganambarr (Sammy) Googoorewon Knox (George) Teangi Knox (Gordon & drum)s) Aaron McGrath (Brian & Ensemble) Jackson Peele (Neil) Cassandra Williams (Suzin) Ilbijerri Theatre Company. Canberra Theatre. Canberra Theatre Centre. July 10-12. Bookings: 62752700 or canberratheatrecentre.com.au
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
Sheer joyfulness is the only way to describe Ilbijerra Theatre Company’s rollicking and uplifting production of Big Names No Blankets. And what a fantastic celebration of Naidoc Week. Big Name, No Blankets is a tribute rock musical to the late Warumpi Band founder Sammy Tjapanangka Butcher. As a salute to the name of the band’s first album Big Names No Blankets is big, blak, proud and strong. Ninety minutes of exhilaration track the origins of Warumpi Band from the Dreaming of the Honey Ant of the Red Desert to the towns of the bush, the city and eventually the world. From the very opening welcome to country it is obvious that this show is a statement from the heart, sincere, truthful and spoken with the voice of reconciliation. Rock and gospel, folk and ballad sing the praises of My Island Home, affirm the struggle in We Gotta Be Strong and cry out for unity and tolerance in Blackfella/Whitefella.. Warumpi sounds the clarion call of hope and of a better future for generations to come.
The show tells the story of Warumpi Band’s journey from when Sammy
(played with appealing engagement by Baykali Ganambarr) accidentally tripped
over a guitar on the ground to the band’s emergence as Australia’s foremost
iconic indigenous band, singing proudly in the Lurritja Yolgnu Matha languages
of the Central Desert. It is a story told in the spirit of childlike joy and
laughter by a company of favbulous performers and musicians. Central to the explosive
impact of the production is the charismatic performance of as the lead singer, George (Googoorewon Knox).
He has the audience standing and stomping to the rock rhythm of his song including
a celebration of identity and power in Stand
Up And Be Counted. The auditorium pulsed with the power of total
liberation. Brothers and sisters were united in the spirit of compatriotism..Baykali Ganambarr as Sammy Butxcher
From the forceful rhythm of rock ‘n roll to the soulful melody of the ballad sung by the band’s whitefella Neil (Jackson Peele) Warumpi’s legacy remains as potent as when Sammy Butcher gathered his self taught musicians together to sing the celebration of country. And it is country that brings them home, to the spirit of a land that nurtures and teaches them the culture of their identity.
Big Name, No Blankets is not merely a Blackfella’s Rock ‘n
Roll Musical. It is a moving and inspiring example of simple and engaging
storytelling. Writer Andrea James has written a story that combines the
electricity of rock and roll with the gentle truths of folk and has imbued Big Name No Blankets with humour,
protest, loss and hope. Directors , Sammy Butcher’s daughter Anyupa Butcher and
the legendary Bob Maza’s daughter Dr. Rachael Maza AM fuse their theatrical
inventiveness with the deep understanding of their people, culture and identity.
The charm, talent and message lift an audience to their feet in adulation and
respect. A couple of rows in front of me a young woman’s body rocks and rolls
with excited vigour as Knox romps across the stage in a possessed display of
Jagger, Hutchence and Garret exultation.Googoorewon Knox as George
Big Name No Blanket is a triumphant celebration of what it is to be from the land of the honey ant within sight of the hill they name Warumpi. If theatre has the power to open eyes, touch the heart and change the world, then Big Name No Blanket’s tribute to Sammy Butcher and the original members of the trailblazing Warumpi Band will lift your spirits in a night of full forced music, storytelling and entertainment.