Ngapartji Ngapartji
Sydney Festival 2008
9 January – 10 February
Presented by Sydney Festival, Company B and Big hART in association with Melbourne International Arts Festival, Perth International Arts Festival and Sydney Opera House.
Now playing at Belvoir St Theatre

When researching a little about the events that are so poignantly presented in Ngapartji Ngapartji  it struck me − whether our education syllabus-decision makers are happy about it or not − that ours is a postmodern world.

As education streams come increasingly ‘online’, and as the quickest and most efficient way to research is to surf with a few key words, any student or interested party can be presented with myriad perspectives of their subject. They might view bureaucratic documentation, insights from multiple minority stakeholders, 2nd generational accounts, blog-style essays … the list goes on.

In essence Ngapartji Ngapartji  deals with ‘the narration that is our nation’. That one is loaded as we know!

Trevor Jamieson shares his family story with the Ngapartji Ngapartji audience
image courtesy of photographer: Heidrun Lohr and Ngapartji Ngapartji

Ngapartji Ngapartji  at Belvoir Street Theatre last Saturday evening was an ambitious project. Ngapartji Ngapartji  makes reference to atomic bomb testing on Australia’s north-western coastline, to the nuclear arms race, to the Cold War, to more bomb testings on South Australia’s Emu Field and Maralinga …  Ngapartji Ngapartji  traces a specific (Walytja) family story from pre-colonial Australia right onto the Belvoir Street stage − where two brothers (Jangala and Trevor Jamieson) − introduce us to some of the formative moments of their ancestry.

The singers of the Ngapartji Ngapartji Choir and assorted talented cast and crew befriend the audience at the beginning of the work. The choir exchange Pitjantjatjara words for our English ones (mother, father, toes, nose, etc) and we're given enough vocabulary to enter into the play with some play. We are then carefully guided by the Ngapartji Ngapartji Choir; an ensemble of very large and visually dramatic women who manage us with care and humour.

From this trusting playgroup we are taken back in history. Guided by Trevor Jamieson we go on a journey to encounter the darkness of Maralinga, the aftermath of the bomb(s) and even a poetic and devastating  insight into ‘the other side’ of the bomb drop on Hiroshima. We get a sense of space, time and the political and historical context of the Australian bomb testings. Ngapartji Ngapartji  is frequently heartbreaking theatre, evoking stories that most of us have avoided contemplating with our empathetic  imaginations.

image courtesy of photographer: Heidrun Lohr and Ngapartji Ngapartji
 
Our theatre piece ends with the second Jamieson brother (Jangala), who has been (story) told that evening through multimedia. He’s been presented to us as something of a delinquent; a father who is chastised by his own mother to do a better job, a doting dad whose toddler defends him from imaginary foes, someone who likes his drink too much and someone who is very loved and 'hoped for' by his family.

Language is the core concern of Ngapartji Ngapartji  and it is through language that this new model creative community has evolved.
For more information about Ngapartji Ngapartji  language initiative visit http://ninti.ngapartji.org.
“Ngapartji Ngapartji has many layers involving language learning, teaching and maintenance, community development, crime prevention, cross cultural collaboration, creating new literacy training models as well as film, art and theatre making”
For more information about Ngapartji Ngapartji visit http://www.ngapartji.org/

"The written recording of the Pitjantjatjara language was begun in the 1930's by N B Tindale, and in the early 1940's Rev J R B Love and R M Trudinger formalised the first Pitjantjatjara alphabet ..." more here.

Key Performer and Co-creator: Trevor Jamieson
Writer and Director: Scott Rankin
Musical Director: Damian Mason
Set and Costume Design: Genevieve Dugard
Ngapartji Ngapartji
Belvoir St Theatre
25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
until 10 February 2008
Ngapartji Ngapartji  is sold out for this season. Belvoir St has advised me that though there is no guarantee, should you leave your name (in person) at Belvoir Box Office at 2.30 pm you may be able to obtain tickets for the 5.00 pm session; and should you leave your name (in person) at Belvoir Box Office at 5.00 pm you may be able to obtain tickets for the 8.00 pm session of Ngapartji Ngapartji. Good luck!