Bard Takes Yirra Yaakin to a New Stage

IT struck Kyle Morrison as a surreal experience when he stood on the stage at the reconstructed Globe Theatre in London, reciting six of Shakespeare’s sonnets in an Aboriginal language.

The historic event took place in April, in the lead-up to the London Olympics. Perth-based Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company had been invited by the organisers of the Cultural Olympiad to perform Shakespeare in the Nyungar language of southwest Australia.

“They wanted to have an example of one of the world’s oldest languages,” says Morrison, 30, who is Yirra Yaakin’s artistic director. “It was the first time an Australian Aboriginal language was performed on the historic Globe Theatre stage, the first time any of Shakespeare’s work had been translated into Nyungar and the first time Aboriginal actors had performed on the stage.”

But back in Perth, that career highlight was equalled by the sight of Morrison’s grandmother listening to him rehearsing Shakespeare in her native language. “My grandmother hadn’t heard Nyungar spoken fluently since she was about five and she’s over 80 now. She was brought up in a mission and strongly discouraged to speak Nyungar or have connection with the culture. When I was doing the sonnets, I could see tears coming from her eyes.”

Morrison, who became artistic director three years ago, says he has Yirra Yaakin (which means “stand tall”) to thank for learning a smattering of his family’s language. The company is celebrating 20 years as Western Australia’s only Aboriginal theatre company and has performed dozens of shows in a blend of English, Nyungar and other indigenous languages through the years.

Full-length plays such as the critically celebrated Windmill Baby and Waltzing the Wilarra, both by former Yirra Yaakin artistic director David Milroy, are rare luxuries. More typical is Honey Spot, a children’s play directed by Morrison that was performed last month at the Sydney Opera House.

But Yirra Yaakin’s staple offerings have been community theatre: “We’ve made a big investment in work like Good Lovin’, Motor Car Sorry Business and No Excuse, all plays half an hour long that support people in their education around issues such as sexual health, road safety and domestic violence,” Morrison says.

Yet the Nyugar Shakespeare sonnets, translated by Morrison’s co-performer Kylie Farmer and elder Roma Winmar, represent the company’s desire to reach beyond its own constituency. The sonnets will be performed at the opening of the Perth International Arts Festival in February.

Morrison also has other ambitions for Yirra Yaakin. It will host its first national co-production next year, with Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre. The chosen play is Robert J. Merritt’s The Cake Man, first performed at Redfern in Sydney in the early 1970s, starred Bob Maza, was among the early signs of an emerging indigenous theatre in Australia.

Belvoir describes the co-production with Yirra Yaakin as “teaming up with this great little powerhouse of new and old indigenous stories to give (a) forgotten gem its overdue revival”. It calls Morrison part of “a new generation in black theatre”. He was born in the early 1980s when plays by West Australian playwright and poet Jack Davis – who wrote Honey Spot, Kullark and No Sugar – were first being performed in Perth.

“I grew up watching Aboriginal theatre in the mid-90s,” says Morrison. “I’d skip school to go to Yirra Yaakin’s shows and one time I turned up and my English class was there. So it backfired badly.”

By his late teens, Morrison was playing the boy in Black Swan Theatre Company’s production of Waiting for Godot. He says he owes a debt to Black Swan, now the state’s flagship company; he gained understudy directing experience on plays such as The Sapphires. Deckchair, the Fremantle-based company that folded in October, also gave him early breaks.

“It’s a big loss because Deckchair was dedicated to telling WA stories and it was very instrumental in my development,” Morrison says. “It’s a shame when such an important institution is not seen as important.”

Four years ago, before he took over, Yirra Yaakin too came close to closure. After meagre output and a loss of direction, it lost funding from the Australia Council’s theatre board.

“It was teetering,” says acting general manager Sally Richardson, who has played the roles of director and dramaturge at Yirra Yaakin across a 12-year period. “Now … we’re part of the fabric of Australian theatre culture. And I feel incredibly proud of that.”

Yirra Yaakin’s turnover this year will be $1.8 million, largely sourced from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board, the WA government and an impressive array of resource industry sponsors. Richardson (who has a long track record in creating innovative theatre-dance productions) has been largely responsible for bringing in the sponsors.

“The sum sounds large, but our box office is minimal since many programs are offered free, or at reduced cost, to schools and communities,” she says, citing a recent tour to the northwest Pilbara region, in which Yirra Yaakin took free performances and related sexual health workshops to remote locations such as Port Hedland, Newman, Onslow, Karratha, Roebourne, Marble Bar, Nullagine, Warralong and Yandeyarra, at a cost of $250,000.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve grappled with Yirra Yaakin’s purpose, what we exist to do,” Morrison says. “Everyone has had different ideas, but I really wanted to focus on us creating good theatre. In the next couple of years, the plan is to create theatre of the highest quality.”

A turning point in the company’s fortunes appears to have arrived. After years of operating out of semi-dilapidated premises, Yirra Yaakin has been invited to take up residence in the WA Museum and perform regularly.

Richardson says a lengthy dinner with the museum’s chief executive Alec Coles clinched the deal. “Alec is lateral in his thinking. He has been a passionate advocate for museums as representatives of a living culture. When he said that, Kyle said, ‘Well, we’re the oldest living culture.’ “

A three-year resident partnership will give Yirra Yaakin direct access to 300,000 museum visitors a year, including school and family groups.

“It also puts us in the eye of tourism, which we’ve never really accessed before,” says Richardson.

Yirra Yaakin has achieved another couple of firsts -: its children’s show Kaarla Kaatijin was performed at the recent Awesome Festival.

The company has also teamed up with Yorga Waabiny Productions, an all-female indigenous group that staged its comedy skit Black as Michael Jackson at the Blue Room Theatre in Perth earlier this year.

They will appear in the Perth Fringe Festival next year with Fifty Shades of Black. “We’re supporting them in a hands-off way,” Morrison says, “and we’re thrilled it will be the first time we get to participate in the Fringe.”

That Yirra Yaakin’s future is now partly reliant on generosity from WA’s mining sector has required mature reflection on Morrison’s part.

He grew up in the iron ore mining town of Newman, “which every Aboriginal person called Nyaburu Town – Nyaburu is the word given to somebody who has passed away”.

The term refers to the loss of the local creation spirit at ore-rich Mount Whaleback, which is being eroded by BHP Billiton mining operations into a pit in the ground.

“It was one of the most significant sites for Aboriginal people in the east Pilbara region. When the mountain went, the lore for that country did too,” he says.

“I made a promise to myself that I’d never work with BHP because of what they did to Nyaburu town. Well, our first generous sponsor in 2010 was BHP.

“I thought about it, and realised that there’s not a dollar that doesn’t have a bit of blood on it. But I feel that the importance of enriching the WA scene and instilling pride in our young people is worth the compromise.”

Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company will perform Shakespeare’s sonnets in Nyungar at the opening of the Perth International Arts Festival on February 8.