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Ilbijerri Theatre Company, formerly Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Cooperative and also known simply as Ilbijerri, styled ILBIJERRI, is an Australian theatre company based 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 ...
that creates theatre creatively controlled by
Indigenous artists.
History
Ilbijerri was founded in 1990 as Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Cooperative by a group of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
artists galvanised to tell Indigenous stories from an Indigenous perspective. Ilbijerri, pronounced ''il BIDGE er ree'', is a
Woiwurrung language word meaning "coming together for
ceremony
A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secular) ...
".
Notable productions
* ''
Stolen
Stolen may refer to:
* ''Stolen'' (2009 Australian film), a 2009 Australian film
* ''Stolen'' (2009 American film), a 2009 American film
* ''Stolen: The Baby Kahu Story'' (2010 film), a film based on the real life kidnapping of baby Kahu Durie ...
'' by Jane Harrison, commissioned in 1992 and first performed in a 1998 co-production with
Playbox Theatre
The Playbox Theatre was a theatre located at 53-55 Exhibition Street in Melbourne, Australia, from 1927 to 1984. It became the home of the Playbox Theatre Company, previously Hoopla! and later Malthouse Theatre.
History
The theatre seating ...
* ''Jack Charles v The Crown'', about the life of
Jack Charles
Jack Charles (5 September 1943 – 13 September 2022), also known as Uncle Jack Charles, was an Australian stage and screen actor and activist, known for his advocacy for Aboriginal people. He was involved in establishing the first Indigenous t ...
, which premiered in 2010 at the
Melbourne Festival. Charles was nominated for a
Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play
The Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play is an award presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA) (the trade name for the Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA)), an employers' organisation which serves as the peak body i ...
for his performance in the play in 2012, and the play was also nominated for
Best Direction of a Play. The show toured across Australia and internationally, and in 2014, Ilbijerri was joint winner of a
Drover Award
The performing arts in Australia are an important element of the Arts in Australia and Australian culture.
Dance
Dance in Australia is diverse, ranging from The Australian Ballet to the Restless Dance Company to the many local dance studios.
...
from
APACA, and Ilbijerri Theatre, toured by
Performing Lines, won the
Helpmann Award for Best Regional Touring Production
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The Helpmann Award for Best Regional Touring Production is an award, presented by Live Performance Australia at the annual Helpmann Awards since 2007.
The award recognises excellence in a production which has toured in the last three ...
. and in the same year
* ''Beautiful One Day'', a theatrical documentary about events on
Palm Island (co-produced with
Belvoir and version 1.0), which also played at London's
Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge).
It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...
as part of the 2015 Origins Festival of First Nations
*''Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country'', is a
verbatim theatre
Documentary theatre is theatre that uses pre-existing documentary material (such as newspapers, government reports, interviews, journals, and correspondences) as source material for stories about real events and people, frequently without altering ...
work based on historical events at
Coranderrk
Coranderrk was an Aboriginal reserve run by the Victorian government between 1863 and 1924, located around north-east of Melbourne. The residents were mainly of the Woiwurrung, Bunurong and Taungurong peoples, and the first inhabitants chose ...
, a former
Aboriginal reserve in
Victoria.
Giordano Nanni
The Juice Media (TJM) is an Australian company that produces contemporary, human rights political and social satire.
They are known for their Internet series Honest Government Ads and Juice Rap News.
TJM has been at the centre of a number of so ...
and
Yorta Yorta/
Kurnai
The Gunaikurnai or Gunai/Kurnai ( ) people, also referred to as the Gunnai or Kurnai, are an Aboriginal Australian nation of south-east Australia. They are the Traditional Custodians of most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slop ...
playwright
Andrea James wrote the play, and it was co-produced with
La Mama Theatre, in collaboration with the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
.
[ It was performed at the Playhouse at ]Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
in June/July 2012.
See also
* Indigenous theatre in Australia
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Theatre companies in Australia
Indigenous Australian theatre
1990 establishments in Australia
Theatre in Melbourne