Archived

Beautiful
One Day

Created by Sean Bacon, Magdalena Blackley, Kylie Doomadgee, Paul Dwyer, Eamon Flack, Rachael Maza, Jane Phegan, Harry Reuben David Williams

A co-production with ILBIJERRI Theatre Companyversion 1.0
Indigenous Theatre at Belvoir supported by The Balnaves Foundation

  • Venue Carriageworks Redfern
  • Dates 17 Nov – 23 Dec 2012
  • Duration Approx 2.5 hours including interval

    Beautiful One Day is a theatrical documentary about the irrepressible life and times of Palm Island. Three theatre companies (Belvoir, Ilbijerri, and version 1.0) came together in 2011 over a shared sense of outrage at the injustices surrounding a death in custody in 2004. But, prompted by the Palm Island community, Beautiful One Day looks for a way to turn outrage into real understanding and new possibilities. At its heart is a determined struggle to understand the persistent heavy-handedness of white Australia.

    In 1918 the Queensland Government established a settlement at Palm Island where, for the next 50 years, thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders from across the state were forcibly resettled. In 2004, following the “accidental” death of Mulrunji Doomadgee in a police cell, and frustrated by the state response, members of the community on Palm Island made a direct challenge to police power by surrounding the station and burning it down. Eight years later, the people of Palm Island continue to demand real justice, and all the while life continues.

    An antidote to the relentlessly negative media coverage, Beautiful One Day interweaves the stories of Palm Island, the diktats of white Australia, and the voices of the community. Made through conversation, through argument, through long walks and frequent eruptions of joyfulness, this is a show about what an honest talk might really look like.

    Team

    Devisor/AV Designer Sean Bacon
    Devisor/Performer/Cultural Consultant Magdalena Blackley
    Devisor/Performer Kylie Doomadgee
    Devisor/Performer Paul Dwyer
    Devisor Eamon Flack
    Devisor/Performer Rachael Maza
    Devisor/Performer Jane Phegan
    Devisor/Performer Harry Reuben
    Devisor David Williams

    Set & Costume Designer Ruby Langton-Batty
    Lighting Designer Frank Mainoo 
    Composer & Sound Designer Paul Prestipino
    Stage Manager Edwina Guinness

    Videos

    Palm Island images by Frank Mainoo
    Rehearsal images by Heidrun Lohr
    Production images by Heidrun Lohr

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