THE GO-BETWEEN: WILLIAM MURRUNGURK BUCKLEY
The white man who went black and came back
The Go-Between: William Murrungurk Buckley tracks the epic
adventure of a convict’s escape in 1803 from the farthest out-post of the
British Empire – Sullivan Bay (Sorrento) on Port Phillip - and explores
Buckley’s 32 years with Wathaurong people where he became Murrungurk, a spirit
returned from the dead. The performance then follows Buckley into the little
known, treacherous, political end game, when he worked as Interpreter between
the traditional owners and the invading colonists of Australia.
Weaving Buckley’s ghosted 1852 biography with Wathaurong
language, historic documents, archival images, music and poetry, The
Go-between: William Murrungurk Buckley takes audiences into the
not-so-black-and-white world of early Victoria, of murder, massacre, and
Buckley’s bruising encounters with the famous and infamous characters of
colonial Melbourne – Batman, Fawkner, Gellibrand and Derrimut.
Told by Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky in savage, humorous fashion, The
Go- Between: William Murrungurk Buckley is the story of an outsider who was our
first agent of reconciliation.
Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky is a storyteller folk musician who considers the heart of our history to be the relationship between black and white Australians. A founder of the Bushwackers Band in 1971, Jan went on to write best-selling books such as Born Under The Paperbark Tree with Wardaman songman Yidumduma Bill Harney, award-winning television documentaries Buwarrala Akarriya: Journey East (ABC) and Aeroplane Dance (SBS) with Yanyuwa, Garrwa and Mara people of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and to devise the Wominjeka Ceremony with Dja Dja Wurrung people of central Victoria for the 2009 Castlemaine State Festival.
DATES:
Castlemaine (Sunday 1 Sept, 2.30)
Cororooke (near Colac, Fri 6 Sept, 7.30)
Stieglitz (Sunday 8 Sept SOLD OUT)
Albert Park (Friday 20 Sept, 8.00)
Newport (Saturday 21 Sept, 8.00)
All details on Jan' website: http://www.storytellersguide.com.au/jans-gigs/
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