15–18 March Rangatira Q Theatre
JACK CHARLES V THE CROWN ILBIJERRI THEATRE COMPANY
CREATIVE TEAM Written by Jack Charles & John Romeril
Lighting Designer Danny Pettingill
Stage Manager Jessica Keepence
Director Rachael Maza
Musical Director Nigel MacLean
Dramaturg John Romeril
Audio Visual Designer Peter Worland
Audio Engineer/ AV Realiser Gary Dryza
Set & Costume Designer Emily Barrie
Production Manager John Byrne
1hr 15mins no interval photography: bindi cole
A NOTE FROM JACK CHARLES Shortly after the screening of a 56-minute version of my documentary, Bastardy, on the ABC, I started to receive feedback from a number of sources. Testament that my story had hit that ‘sweet spot’ in the minds and hearts of ordinary viewers, in Melbourne and nationwide. It had impressed so many people, from all walks of life, that many were urged to contact me by phone or postcard, others content to wait for a chance meet, face to face. On the streets, on a tram, bus or train, each one practically falling arse over tit to engage, talk and thank me for the experience. I thoroughly enjoy the rapport and support offered by complete strangers, and understand and honour their reaching out to me.
PERFORMERS With Jack Charles Guitar & Violin Nigel MacLean Percussion Phil Collings Bass Mal Beveridge
It came as no surprise when Rachael Maza, the Artistic Director of ILBIJERRI, rang to talk about taking my story to its rightful place – the stage, the theatre. The mob at ILBIJERRI were always aware of the rise in my profile and standing in the performing arts arena, so it wasn’t long before I got the call to arms from Rachael and ILBIJERRI – Bold, Black ‘n’ Brilliant! Rachael had roped in my old friend from the Pram Factory days, John Romeril, to be my dramaturg. T’was easy to re-connect to the man who’d written the original play, Bastardy. This is one very important piece of theatre that I was so anxious and ready to do. I reckon that people from the arts and performing industries have come to the realisation that I share the writing with Romeril, writing a couple of the monologues myself, and performing clean, without any giggle-juice or drugs to enhance my presence on stage. Jack Charles V The Crown is the culmination of years of frustration and rejection from bureaucracy, both black and white. ilbijerri acknowledges the support of the australian government through the australia council for the arts, the victorian government through creative victorian and the city of melbourne.
sponsored by
DIRECTOR’S NOTE Having grown up in the theatre I have known Uncle Jack most of my life and long admired his work as one of Australia’s greatest actors. His is the generation that started Black Theatre in this country, paving the way for those of my generation to follow (Uncle Jack, along with my father Bob Maza, established Australia’s first Aboriginal Theatre Company, Nindethana, in Melbourne in 1972). It is through theatre that I have learnt the true history of this country, history that was never taught in the school books. It is this early theatre that inspired who I am today, inspiring in me the passion to continue to tell the stories that need to be told. One of my earliest memories in the theatre was at the Sydney Opera House: a scene in which two fully clad early 19th century soldiers entered, carrying between them a fully naked ‘Bennelong’ (a young Jack Charles) to centre downstage, his feet dangling above the floor... Some decades later, I’m watching
the phenomenal documentary Bastardy in which Uncle Jack again bares his all – though this time metaphorically. We talk not long after and it becomes very evident that he is ready to tell his story on stage. Jack’s story is not dissimilar to many other Aboriginal people who were victims of past Government policies. He was stolen from his family at three months and placed in a boys’ home, where he would endure years of abuse. He then spent the majority of his adult years doing ‘burgs’ and ‘doing time’ to feed his addiction. There is no doubt in my mind that all of this got in the way of what would have been a truly brilliant career on stage and screen. Melbourne-born and bred, a true gentleman, generous in spirit, warm of heart, sharp of wit... Jack Charles is a true Elder! It is such a great honour and privilege to work so closely and intimately with one of Australia’s great living legends. Special thanks to Uncle Jack for his incredible generosity in sharing his story. Rachael Maza
BIOGRAPHIES ILBIJERRI (pronounced ‘il BIDGE er ree) is a Woiwurrung word meaning ‘Coming Together for Ceremony’. ILBIJERRI is one of Australia’s leading theatre companies creating innovative works by First Nations artists. Our productions have toured to critical acclaim across Australia and the world. We challenge and excite our audiences with contemporary stories about what it means to be First Nations in Australia today. Established in 1990 ILBIJERRI is the longest running First Nations theatre company in Australia. Our creative processes aim to support First Nations artists and communities to have a powerful voice in determining the future of Australia. Artistic Director Rachael Maza Executive Producer Lydia Fairhall Creative Director Kamarra Bell-Wykes Producers Nina Bonacci Lisa Parris Associate Producers J-Maine Beezley Davey Thompson General Manager Kathy Morrison Development & Marketing Manager Iain Finlayson Marketing Coordinator Fred Chuang Office Manager Lea Rumwaropen Finance Manager Jon Hawkes International Market Development Consultant Fenn Gordon
JACK CHARLES Co-Writer, Performer
JOHN ROMERIL Co-Writer, Dramaturg
Jack Charles has a career that spans almost six decades. He cofounded the first Aboriginal theatre company Nindethana in 1972 and has performed with the cream of Australia’s actors, directors and writers including Geoffrey Rush, Neil Armfield, John Romeril and Tracey Moffatt. Jack Charles V The Crown (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company), the production he co-wrote and performed in, has been touring national and internationally since it first premiered in 2010. Jack’s work has spanned feature films, TV series and hundreds of plays including The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Bedevil, Ben Hall and The Marriage of Figaro. Jack was the subject of Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s award-winning documentary Bastardy, and was awarded the prestigious Tudawali Award at the Message Sticks Festival in 2009, honouring his lifetime contribution to Indigenous media. His most recent work includes Warner Bros’ Pan and Wolf Creek 3. Uncle Jack was the recipient of the Green Room Awards 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2016 Victorian Senior Australian of the Year.
Born in 1945, John began writing plays in the late 1960s while a student at Monash University. He was a founding member of the Australian Performing Group at the Pram Factory during the 1970s; writing nearly 40 plays for the company. They include the greatly acclaimed The Floating World, which earned him the Literature Board’s inaugural Canada-Australia Award in 1975 and led to a production at the National Theatre in Ottawa. He is also remembered for other works from the 70s, such as Marvelous Melbourne, The Dudders, Chicago Chicago, Carboni, Mrs. Thally F and The Accidental Poke (a short melodrama within The Hills Family Show). Romeril’s more recent works include the script for One Night the Moon, an hour length music drama that gained both a cinema and television release. Miss Tanaka, based on a short story by Xavier Herbert, was staged at the Malthouse in Melbourne. During five decades as a dramatist John has produced over 80 works for stage, film and television. His approach is collaborative in style, responsive to both a wide range of social issues, and the specific needs of actors, directors, designers, managements and audiences. During the 1980s and 1990s his involvement in live theatre included History of Australia: The Musical, Jonah, Legends and The Kelly Dance. His plays have been translated and performed in Japan, Vietnam, and Italy. He was the recipient of the 2009 Patrick White Award and more recently received ‘Lifetime Achievement’ awards, one from the Melbourne Greenroom Society (2011) and one from the Sydney Theatre Reviewers Association (2014). He has written three times for (and sometimes with) Jack Charles: Bastardy, Jack Charles V The Crown, and Going Through which was a sellout success at the 2015 Castlemaine State Festival in the Old Castlemaine Jail which several times housed Jack as a prisoner.
BIOGRAPHIES RACHAEL MAZA Director
NIGEL MACLEAN Muscial Director, Guitar & Violin
PHIL COLLINGS Percussion
Rachael Maza is one of Australia’s most recognisable faces of the Australian film, television and theatre industry with performance credits including the Australian Film Institute (AFI) award-winning Radiance and the stage production of The Sapphires.
Established “all terrain” violinist, Nigel MacLean has won international and national recognition for his innovative approach to music. Nigel orchestrated and conducted the music for Geoffrey Wright’s production of Macbeth (2006), and composed music for a short film, Forged, by David No, which won Gold Medal for Best Music in a Short Film at the Park City Film Music Festival (Utah, USA) in 2008.
Phil performs in a variety of musical contexts ranging from the real-time composition and dissection of form and melody in The Borrowed Time Trio and ReAssemble, to the rock styling’s of Australian rock iconoclast Kim Salmon, and the linear and dexterous compositions of Australian composer Kate Neal.
A Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) graduate, Rachael’s outstanding performances have been acknowledged with a Green Room Award and a Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Award. Rachael has also worked as a presenter for ABC Message Stick and as an acting coach on films such as the multiaward-winning Rabbit Proof Fence. Rachael’s first taste of directing was Stolen (1992) for ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, however, it wasn’t until 2009 that she rejoined the company as Artistic Director. Since then she has directed Sisters of Gelam (2009), Jack Charles V The Crown (2010), Foley (2011), Beautiful One Day (2012) and Which Way Home (2016). Rachael currently sits on the board of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), the Circus Oz Indigenous Advisory Panel, Australian Opera Indigenous Advisory Panel, Balnaves Indigenous Playwrights Award Panel and the Green Room Awards Theatre Company Panel.
Nigel composed the music for Jack Charles V The Crown (which premiered at Melbourne International Arts Festival 2010), toured nationally and internationally with sell out performances at the Barbican Theatre in London February 2014. Nigel has twice won the National Bluegrass Championships and has been awarded three Golden Fiddle Awards. He is a nationally recognised jazz violin performer and educator. As a solo artist his performance and recording credits include Black Arm Band, John Denver, David Hirschfelder; Joe Chindamo, Dan Hicks, Paul Kelly, Renee Geyer, David Hobson, Joe Camilleri and Kate Ceberano to name a few. MAL BEVERIDGE Bass Mal Beveridge is an electric double bassist. He’s played in every sticky carpeted honky-tonk pub in Melbourne and around Australia for the last twenty years with various jazz, blues, country, rock and funk bands and recorded with many different artists. Jack Charles V The Crown was Mal’s first major theatre production and has been involved since its inception in 2010. He has since toured with the company across Australia, UK, Ireland, Canada and the US.
Phil’s theatre credits include Jack Charles V The Crown and Sisters of Gelam for ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and Show Us Your Tiddas for Melbourne Workers Theatre. Phil has led and written for his own projects, namely the Phil Collings Trio, which performed at the Apollo Bay Music Festival on the back of the 2003 CD release of Music Room – Phil Collings trio, and has a composition featured on the ABC Jazztrack 30th Anniversary Album. As a producer, Phil is artistic director and co-founder of record label Crackbell Records (crackbellrecords. com) dedicated to new Australian music, and also works with Castlemaine based Label/Production Company Filmharmonix, which produced Jack Charles V The Crown – Music from the Stage Production. Currently Phil is performing with the following Artists: The Borrowed Time Trio, The Ben Carr Trio, Mike Brady, Steve Sedergreen, Stu Thomas Paradox, Dan Flynn and the State of Things (Bass), Justin Brady, Mikelangelo, P2, ReAssemble, Kim Salmon & The Surrealists, and the Phil Collings Trio, and The Flaming Mongrels.
ALSO AT AUCKLAND ARTS FESTIVAL
“Startling. Remarkable. Playful as well as moving.” — The Guardian
— The Telegraph
— The Times
at z ok .n Bo f.co aa
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London National Theatre hit.
— Time Out
— The Independent
US/ THEM 22–25 March Written & Directed by Carly Wijs BRONKS & RICHARD JORDAN PRODUCTIONS WITH THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH & BIG IN BELGIUM In association with Summerhall
Rangatira Q Theatre
aaf.co.nz Auckland Arts Festival is a place for ambitious ideas by storytellers, provocateurs and creators. The Festival reflects our contemporary, cosmopolitan city with its many communities. It challenges artists and audiences to be bold and take a risk. Through the work of artists from Aotearoa and across the world, we aim to unify, uplift, enlighten and inspire the people of Tāmaki Makaurau and our many visitors. Taking place annually in March, 2018 marks the 10th Auckland Arts Festival. This year more than 200,000 people are expected to attend the Festival, which comprises more than 50 events taking place in all corners of the Auckland region and many of which are free.
CONTACT +64 (0)9 309 0101 info@aaf.co.nz Level 5, Wellesley Centre 44-52 Wellesley Street Auckland City 1010 PO Box 5419 Wellesley Street Auckland 1141, NZ
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Chief Executive David Inns Artistic Director Jonathan Bielski Business & Finance Director Shona Roberts Accounts & Payroll Administrators Suzanne Watt Mirena Tomas Executive Assistant Josie Maskell Office Manager Donna Lynskey
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Artist Liaison & Logistics Manager Megan Andrews
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Festival Playground Operations Managers Charlotte Crone Gareth Baston (Boris)
Producer’s Assistant Aroha Rawson Creative Learning & Community Engagement Manager Tracey Marama Lloydd
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A STANDING OVATION FOR ALL THE FUNDERS, SPONSORS, PATRONS, AND SUPPORTERS WHOSE GENEROSITY LETS US BRING THE WORK OF GREAT ARTISTS TO THIS WONDERFUL CITY.
MAJOR FUNDERS
FUNDING PARTNERS The Clyde Graham Charitable Trust managed by
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PLATINUM PATRONS Janet Clarke and John Judge, Sir Roderick and Gillian, Lady Deane,
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Andrew and Jenny Smith, Sir James Wallace (Wallace Foundation), Fran Wyborn
Bill and Frances Bell
SILVER PATRONS Julie and Brian Cadzow, Jeremy Collins, Christine and Richard Didsbury, Trevor and Jan Farmer, Friedlander Foundation, Kent and Gaye Gardner, Dame Jenny Gibbs, David Levene Foundation, Sir Chris and Lady Dayle Mace, Heather Simpson, Sonbol and Farzbod Taefi, Walker and Hall Trust BRONZE PATRONS John Barnett, John Billington QC,
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Martin and Catherine Spencer, Lady Philippa Tait, Fred and Nicky Ward,
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Sally Woodfield and David Inns, William and Sarah Yates
Aotea Centre
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1–25 March DAILY UNTIL LATE
FESTIVAL CLUB All roads at the Auckland Arts Festival lead back to the iHeartRadio FESTIVAL CLUB at the Aotea Centre, a hangout space and music stage for audiences, artists and the creative community to meet, mix and celebrate. Food and drink curated by ArtDego
FESTIVAL CLUB designed by Angus Muir
In the centre of the Aotea Arts Precinct, this comfortable and upbeat pop-up club is your place to gather before and after a show, grab a delicious meal from a bespoke menu, enjoy live music from instrumentalists and DJs, or unwind over the long summer nights with a special Festival cocktail.