''Corrugation Road'' is an Australian musical set in a mental hospital, about an Aboriginal schizophrenic patient. It was written by

Jimmy Chi James Ronald Chi (1948 – 26 June 2017) was an Australian composer, musician and playwright. His best known work is the 1990 musical ''Bran Nue Dae'' which was adapted for film in 2009. Early life Chi was born in Broome, Western Australia in ...

, his band Kuckles and friends, the creators of ''

Bran Nue Dae __NOTOC__ ''Bran Nue Dae'' is a 1990 musical set in Broome, Western Australia, that tells stories and of issues relating to Indigenous Australians. It was written by Jimmy Chi and his band Kuckles and friends, and was the first Aboriginal Aust ...

''. It is based on Chi's own experiences at

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

's Graylands Hospital.

Production history

''Corrugation Road'' was produced by Perth's Black Swan Theatre and had two successful theatre runs in 1996–1997 and 1998. The musical previewed at the

Canberra Theatre Canberra Theatre Centre (CTC), also known as the Canberra Theatre, is the Australian Capital Territory’s central performing arts venue and Australia’s first performing arts centre, the first Australian Government initiated performing arts c ...

from 10 October 1996 during the National Festival of Australian Theatre. It subsequently had its official premiere in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

at the Fairfax Studio,

Victorian Arts Centre Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central ...

from 17 October 1996 as part of the

Melbourne International Festival of the Arts Melbourne International Arts Festival, formerly Spoleto Festival Melbourne – Festival of the Three Worlds, then Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, becoming commonly known as Melbourne Festival, was a major international arts festi ...

. The tour then played Perth (Subiaco Theatre Centre) and Adelaide (Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre) through late 1996 and early 1997. The production was remounted in June 1998 at the

Playhouse Theatre The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt i ...

in Perth before undertaking an Australian national tour.

Reception

The musical won ''The Ages award for creative excellence at the 1996 Melbourne International Festival of the Arts (shared with the performance art work ''Urban Dream Capsule''). It also won the Deadly for Excellence in Film or Theatrical Score in 1998 for Jimmy Chi, Kuckles and

The Pigram Brothers The Pigram Brothers are a seven-piece Indigenous Australian band from the Pearl hunting, pearling town of Broome, Western Australia, Broome, Western Australia, formed in 1996. They were heavily involved in Broome's musical and theatrical exports ...

.1998 winners at The Deadlys For the Melbourne season of ''Corrugation Road'', Andrew Ross (Director), Steve Dolan (Set and Costumes),

Iain Grandage Iain Grandage is an Australian composer and music director, best known for his compositions for theatre, dance and concert. In May 2018, the Perth Festival appointed Grandage as Artistic Director. Early life Grandage initially lived in Brisbane ...

(Musical Director and Arranger) and Anna Mercer (Choreographer) all received nominations in the music theatre Staging and Musical Direction category of the 1996

Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

References

{{reflist

External links

''Corrugation Road''
at

AusStage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...

''Corrugation Road''
at AustLit 1996 musicals Australian musicals Indigenous Australian theatre