Nindethana Theatre

Nindethana Theatre was Australia's first Aboriginal theatre company, founded in Melbourne in 1971, with its last performance in Adelaide in 1974.

Nindethana Theatre
IndustryTheatre
Founded1971 (1971)
FoundersJack Charles & Bob Maza
Defunct1974 (1974)
Headquarters
Melbourne
,
Australia
Products Theatre productions by Aboriginal people

Establishment and aims

The theatre company was formed after the Australia Council for the Arts asked Jack Charles to form a group of Aboriginal actors. The initial cohort consisted of seven young people from Aboriginal hostels in Melbourne, four of whom had never acted before.[1]

Nindethana was established by Charles and Bob Maza at the Pram Factory in Melbourne in 1971,[2][3][4][5] with help from New Zealand-born playwright, theatre director, and actor John Smythe and others.[6][7] Its stated objective was "the performance, encouragement and promotion of Aboriginal drama, music, art, literature, film production and other such cultural activities in the community".[2] It was the first Aboriginal theatre group in the country.[1]

Productions

The first production planned was Rocket Range, by Jim Crawford, but that did not get staged due to production difficulties and lack of trained staff.[8] Their earliest production was The Cherry Pickers, in August 1971,[9] written by Kevin Gilbert and recognised as the first Aboriginal play.[10] In 1972, the theatre staged a performance called Jack Charles is up and fighting (1972),[11]

In November 1972, Brumby Innes: A Play in Three Acts, by Katharine Susannah Prichard,[9][12][10] was staged, in a production that was so successful that a grant was given to film it. It was filmed at Channel 0 in Melbourne (later part of Network 10), airing in June 1973, which led to other acting opportunities for some of the cast members. A sound recording produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1993, is held at Fryer Library at the University of Queensland Library.

In 1973 the theatre company was awarded a fellowship by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board to visit Adelaide, South Australia, to perform at the Adelaide Festival of Arts, as well as Horsham, Murray Bridge and Yalata Aboriginal settlements.[2] They performed Mission and Urban Identity at Nindethana in Melbourne in 1973 and then in Adelaide in 1974.[9]

See also

References
  1. Dreverman, Pat (28 July 1971). "Aborigines to get own drama group". The Age. Retrieved 6 August 2022 – via The Koori History Website.
  2. "Nindethana". AustLit. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  3. "Uncle Jack Charles, Red Ochre Award 2019". Australia Council.
  4. Hair, Margaret (2010). Jimmy Chi: Hybridity and Healing. University of New England (Masters by Research). pp. 24, -28. Retrieved 17 December 2021. PDF
  5. Boehme, Jacob (23 April 2017). "Indigenous performing arts is a testament to collective drive and vision". IndigenousX. This article first appeared in Guardian Australia on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  6. Boehme, Jacob (7 July 2021). "Meet Australian actor Jack Charles". The Saturday Paper. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  7. "John Smythe". AustLit. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  8. "Jack Charles is Up and Fighting [Souvenir Programme]" (PDF).
  9. "Nindethana Theatre". AusStage. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  10. Spirits, Jens Korff, Creative (1 June 2020). "Aboriginal theatres". Creative Spirits.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. "Performing Political History: An interview with Gary Foley". 5 September 2019.
  12. "Brumby Innes". Tribune. No. 1779. New South Wales. 31 October 1972. p. 8. Retrieved 18 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.

Further reading
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