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My Urrwai

Ghenoa Gela

My Urrwai is an absorbing, swiftly-moving, well-judged performance piece that sparks with intelligence

Time Out Sydney

Ghenoa Gela – little sister, daughter, granddaughter, comic, teacher, fighter, gold medallist, air guitarist, charmer, TV star, Torres Strait mainlander, walking political statement – has made a show.

This is your invitation into the complex political, social, colonial and cultural expectations she navigates every day.

Ghenoa is a recipient of both the renowned Keir Choreographic Award and the Deadly Funny Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award. Laughter and deep reflection go hand in hand in this unique and intimate story told through movement and words.

My Urrwai, supported by stellar team including director Rachael Maza and dramaturg Kate Champion, is a revealing reflection on and celebration of cultural and familial inheritance, and an unflinching comment on race relations in Australia.

It’s not so much a coming of age story of a young woman; it’s more of a coming of age story of all of us, and how far we have to go in our understanding of the First Peoples.
Ghenoa knows herself; it’s the rest of us as a nation that have the growing up to do.
On The Town

Credits

Creator/Performer
Ghenoa Gela

Director
Rachael Maza

Dramaturg & Movement Consultant
Kate Champion

Composer
Ania Reynolds

Lighting Designer
Niklas Pajanti

Set & Costume Designer
Michael Hankin

Production & Stage Manager
Liz Young

Produced by Performing Lines
in association with ILBIJERRI Theatre

Originally produced by
Belvoir & Performing Lines in association with ILBIJERRI Theatre & Sydney Festival

Information for Presenters

This production is available for presentation from late 2020 and beyond.

Vanessa Wright Senior Producer

Presentation History

2018
Sydney Festival, Belvoir St Theatre
Sydney, NSW
View full Presentation History

Full Presentation History for My Urrwai

2018
Sydney Festival, Belvoir St Theatre
Sydney, NSW
2019
Castlemaine Festival
Castlemaine, VIC
Frankston Arts Centre
Frankston, VIC
Bunjil Place
Narre Warren, VIC
Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre
Shoalhaven, NSW
BMEC Bathurst
Bathurst, NSW
Bleach* Festival at Home of the Arts
Gold Coast, QLD
NORPA
Lismore, NSW
QPAC
Brisbane, QLD
Walter Reid Cultural Centre
Rockhampton, QLD
Desert Harmony Festival
Tennant Creek, NT
Darwin Festival
Darwin, NT
Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts & Cultural Centre
Katherine, NT
The Arts House
Wyong, NSW
The Q | Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre
Queanbeyan, NSW
The Engine Room | Capital Venues
Bendigo, VIC
Hothouse Theatre
Wodonga, VIC
Festival Unwrapped, Sydney Opera House
Sydney, NSW

Project Partners & Acknowledgements

My Urrwai is produced by Performing Lines, in association with ILBIJERRI Theatre, the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts its arts funding and advocacy body, and the New South Wales Government through Create NSW. Originally co-produced by Belvoir and Performing Lines in association with ILBIJERRI Theatre and Sydney Festival.

In everything we do, we acknowledge that we live on Aboriginal land and constantly learn from the wisdom of First Peoples.

Where we are and the history that precedes us informs how we work and how we move forward.