MARCH 18 - MARCH 28

MALTHOUSE THEATRE PRESENTS

NGURRUMILMARRMIRIYU

[WRONG SKIN]

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WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY NIGEL JAMIESON
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR/MOVEMENT GAVIN ROBINS
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR/COMMUNITY & CULTURAL LIAISON JOSH BOND
DESIGNER NIGEL JAMIESON
ASSOCIATE DESIGNER MATHEW MCCALL
VISUAL DESIGNER SCOTT ANDERSON
VIDEO PRODUCER MIC GRUCHY
LIGHTING DESIGNER TRUDY DALGLEISH
COMPOSERS & SOUND DESIGNERS BASIL HOGIOS & DAVID PAGE

CINEMATOGRAPHERS GAVIN ROBINS,
SCOTT ANDERSON, NIGEL JAMIESON
COMPANY MANAGER ROSEALEE PEARSON

PERFORMED BY THE CHOOKY DANCERS

PRESENTED IN MEMORY OF FRANK. ‘THE FATHER OF MUSIC’ IN NORTH EAST ARNHEM LAND

MERLYN THEATRE
MARCH 18 – MARCH 28

Running Time: 1hr 20min (no interval)

From the broken asphalt of the open-air Galiwinku Saturday Night Disco, the teenage Chooky Dancers of Elcho Island captured 1.4 million YouTube fans worldwide with their exuberant interpretation of Zorba the Greek.

Just off the coast of Arnhem Land, Elcho Island is a remote Northern Territory community of little more than 2,000 where the majority of islanders are under 21- yet their Yolngu culture is connecting profoundly with peoples everywhere. Elcho Islander, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu has performed sold out concerts in New York’s Carnegie Hall while community Elder Gali Yalkarriwuy Gurruwiwi is celebrated as a shining talent with his series, Banumbirr (Morning Star Poles).

In Ngurrumilmarrmiriyu [Wrong Skin], Elcho Island community and Elders collaborate with award-winning director Nigel Jamieson (Honour Bound) to create a Romeo and Juliet tale of forbidden love in a community where the complex laws of ‘skin’ and clan define all relationships.

Performed by the wildly spirited Chooky Dancers – whose unbridled interpretations include everything from Bollywood to Taiwanese martial arts alongside traditional creation stories – Wrong Skin also reveals how new technologies, in the hands of the island’s media-savvy youth, can connect the remote with the global and inspire us all.

Wrong Skin is a Malthouse Theatre commission in partnership with Adelaide Festival, Darwin Festival, Sydney Opera House and Performing Lines, and promises to be the most original, energised and irresistible performance of the year. From the far Northern reaches of Arnhem Land to Melbourne: it’s time to get down, up top style.

A MALTHOUSE THEATRE, ADELAIDE FESTIVAL, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE AND DARWIN FESTIVAL COMMISSION.

MALTHOUSE THEATRE’S INDIGENOUS THEATRE PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM THE POOLA FOUNDATION (TOM KANTOR FUND).

THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN ASSISTED BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT’S MAJOR FESTIVALS INITIATIVE MANAGED BY THE AUSTRALIA COUNCIL, ITS ARTS FUNDING AND ADVISORY BODY, IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CONFEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVALS.

PHOTO BENJAMIN HEALLEY
PICTURED JUSTIN GANAPUNBUN
& DOMINIC GUMURRWAYMI
(THE CHOOKY DANCERS)

MAP OF ARNHEM LAND