Beautiful One Day at Belvoir

A new co-production between Belvoir, Ilbijerri and Version 1.0 explores the history of Palm Island

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 fifty 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.

Rachael Maza (The Sapphires) is the Artistic Director of ILBIJERRI and has a family connection to Palm Island. Magdelena Blackley, Kylie Doomadgee and Harry Ruben are Palm Island residents who become involved in the project when the three companies visited the Island earlier this year. Sean Bacon (Measure for Measure), Paul Dwyer (The Bougainville Photography Project), Jane Phegan (A Distressing Scenario) and David Williams (Director – A Distressing Scenario) from version 1.0 bring experience in documentary theatre making (The Table of Knowledge, Some Kind of Ruckus). Eamon Flack is the Associate Director – New Projects at Belvoir.

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.

 

Beautiful One Day
Dates 17 November – 23 December 2012
Previews Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 November 2012
Opening night Wednesday 21 November 2012
Times Tuesday 6.30pm | Wednesday to Friday 8pm | Saturday 2pm & 8pm | Sunday 5pm
Tickets Full $62 | Seniors (excluding Fri/Sat evenings) $52 | Concession $42
Venue Belvoir St Theatre | 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills
Bookings 02 9699 3444 or belvoir.com.au