Blackbird single work   musical theatre  
Alternative title: Little Birung
Note: The songs and text of ‘Blackbird’ have been written by John Rodgers in collaboration with Megan Sarmadin.
Issue Details: First known date: 2010... 2010 Blackbird
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This compelling Indigenous Australian story is told through song, linking the 19th Century to the present moment through an unbroken chain of experience. "Blackbird" sings the stories of the women of Megan Sarmardin's family. Their voices call clearly across one hundred years and six generations with just one degree of separation between first white contact near Butcher's Creek on the Atherton Tablelands and Megan's life in Mt Isa where she was born, has grown up and lives today.

At the heart of "Blackbird" is a promise. The marriage of Flora's parents, Ngadjon woman Kitty Clark and Russian émigré Leandro Illin has been the subject of both a book My Dark Brother by Eleanor Govor and an SBS docudrama, Pioneers of Love. "Blackbird" stands on the shoulders of these published documents. The existing research has been a gift to "Blackbird's" creative team. But significantly, these moving and uplifting stories came down to Megan first of all through family, and "Blackbird" explores how these stories challenged and enriched the identity of this extraordinarily talented young indigenous woman.'

Source: www.jute.com.au/ (Sighted 14/07/2010).

Notes

  • The Koori Mail reported that this piece had been retitled 'Little Birung', the traditional Ngadjon-ji name give to 'Granny Flora' by her mother Kitty.
    Source: Koori Mail no. 514, 16 November 2011 p. 58

Production Details

  • Produced at JUTE Theatre, 96 Abbot Street, Cairns, 20-28 Auh=gust 2010. Director: Sean Mee.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

The Stories of 'Granny Flora' Rachel Scollay , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 16 November no. 514 2011; (p. 58)
Family Drama Staged 2010 single work column
— Appears in: Namalata Thusi , Winter no. 10 2010; (p. 4-5)
Family Drama Staged 2010 single work column
— Appears in: Namalata Thusi , Winter no. 10 2010; (p. 4-5)
The Stories of 'Granny Flora' Rachel Scollay , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 16 November no. 514 2011; (p. 58)
Last amended 25 Oct 2012 14:41:05
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