2021 Past Event
Raye, a struggling country music star in the making, plays pub to pub along Australia’s vast desert highways, flogging demo CDs in the hope of returning home to her son Elvis. When she meets Dan, another broken wanderer, a love affair unfurls over their four-day drive home to Alice Springs.
Heart is a Wasteland combines First Nations’ storytelling with live music, in a whisky-fuelled battle of egos. It cuts to the country’s heart, recognising everyone’s individual right to love.
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company’s re-staging of Heart is a Wasteland is a brand-new production – in both vision and scale – directed by Rachael Maza and featuring freshly conceived sets, musical arrangements by Gary Watling and adventurous audiovisual design; all reimagined to match the energy of its new young leads.
Credits
Writer John Harvey (Saibai Island)
- Director Rachael Maza (Yidinji, Meriam)
- Songwriter Lydia Fairhall (Worimi)
- Performers Dion Williams (Wiradjuri from Narrandera and Wakaman far North Queensland), Monica Jasmine Karo (Gunai, Gunditjmara), Gary Watling (Wiradjuri)
- Musical Director & Arranger Gary Watling (Wiradjuri)
- Set & Costume Designer Emily Barrie
- Lighting Desiger Niklas Pajanti
- AV Designer Sean Bacon
- Dramaturg Mark Pritchard
- Stage Manager Jess Keepence
- Production Manager Nick Glen
- Photo Aaron Walker
Supported by Sidney Myer Fund. A RISING Co-production.
This project assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
