Reflecting on Djurra

The premiere season of our 2017 work Djurra during the inaugural Artstate NSW festival was a resounding success. Many interstate visitors got to experience a NORPA work for the first time and it was also the most popular show in our entire 2017 Season.

But more importantly, Djurra brought our community together and into the theatre to witness a Bundjalung story on stage. Djurra’s journey to the stage was a hard and heartbreaking one with the loss of David Page and a devastating flood, but with the help of many hands and hearts and ultimately, the gentle direction of Kirk Page, we were able to lay the foundations for an important Australian work that we hope will continue to grow and tour in the future.

Djurra Director, Kirk Page, says “Audiences are hungry for First Nations stories to be programmed and shown in theatre venues across the country. NORPA is leading the way in developing, producing and sharing these stories in our communities.”

As Vicki Van Hout — dancer, choreographer, Wiradjuri woman — said in her review of Djurra for RealTime “Director Kirk Page’s Djurra is important for so many reasons, first and foremost as a multi-disciplinary performative ceremony including dance, spoken text and physical theatre in which ritual is enacted.”

Read Vicki’s insightful review.
Read more about Djurra.

Image | Kate Holmes