‘We’re not going to back down. We’re not going to be afraid of this stuff’

2 hours ago 2

At a particularly fraught time in the country’s history, Andrea James believes Australia is well overdue for a dedicated First Nations theatre space.

The celebrated playwright and director has just been announced as the new artistic director and co-CEO of the acclaimed Ilbijerri Theatre Company, and one of her priorities for her upcoming tenure is to carve out a space.

Ilbijerri Theatre Company’s outgoing artistic director Rachael Maza and incoming artistic director Andrea James.

“I think it’s that it’s a travesty that there is no Aboriginal theatre space in Australia,” she says. We’ve been … partnering with companies, and it’s been fantastic – our relationship with Melbourne Theatre Company and Belvoir and all the companies that we collaborate with is really fantastic. But I would also love to bring audiences to our spaces.”

The benefits of a dedicated space would ripple out throughout the community, she explains, helping writers, performers and designers. “As a practising artist, when I go into Blak spaces, I make better work,” she says. “You can’t do corroboree without a fire, and without our own space, it just still feels like we’re going cap in hand a little bit.”

Now, James emphasises, is a particularly important moment to carve out a space and to share stories. “There’s no doubt that there is a wave of racism and right-wing conservatism that that wants to regress this country, and it’s taken a very dangerous direction … Whatever the forces are that have enabled these voices to be so forthright is truly, truly shocking and horrifying,” she says.

“We’re not going to back down. We’re not going to be afraid of this stuff. You know, we’re not going to not continue to do acknowledgements of country because that’s something we’ve done forever. We’re going to continue what we’ve always done.”

Ilbijerri Theatre Company chair Dr Eugenia Flynn, incoming artistic director Andrea James, outgoing artistic director Dr Rachael Maza and executive director Ping Flynn at the Collingwood yards, Melbourne.

She will wrap up her tenure as Griffin Theatre Company’s associate artistic director then following a period of handover, the Yorta Yorta/Gunaikurnai woman will be stepping into the role in November, taking over from Dr Rachael Maza who has helmed the company for the past 18 years.

Established in 1991, Ilbijerri is an award-winning theatre company centred on the work of First Nations creatives. Past works include the acclaimed Jack Charles v The Crown, Beautiful One Day, Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country and the recent Big Name, No Blankets, the latter two of which were written by James.

Asked what the company has meant to her personally across the course of her career, James’ answer is simple: everything.

“I was just reflecting with Rachael yesterday how when we started out, you could literally count the number of playwrights and Aboriginal directors on one hand – and now we’ve got this plethora of established artists who are making really fantastic work, as well as a wave of young emerging artists. It’s just incredible,” she says.

Big Name, No Blankets by Ilbijerri Theatre Company celebrates the story of the Warumpi Band.

“It’s a company that’s in fantastic shape, and that’s a real blessing because that doesn’t always happen,” James adds, pointing to the work of Maza, executive director and co-CEO Ping Flynn and the broader community. “Many hands have touched this company and brought it into being. And we will always honour and pay respects and give thanks to those people who did the really hard yards.”

In addition to prioritising the creation of a dedicated space, James is keen to build on the existing strong foundation by seeking out more stories, and facilitating more works of scale. Her first plan of action, however, will be to listen to the people around her. “I’m going to engage in a round of really deep listening and talking, engaging with our elders-in-residence N’arweet Dr Carolyn Briggs and Uncle Larry Walsh.”

The role of the arts is more profound than distraction. “The more that we are able to come together as people – and theatre is a fantastic avenue for that – it brings us together as Blak people in our own safe space,” James reflects. “And then to invite people to come and sit with us and listen to our stories and celebrate and engage with truth telling, it’s just really important, I think now more than ever.

“We’re one of only three Aboriginal First Nations theatre companies in Australia, And I think there actually needs to be a lot more, to be honest – I actually want more competition,” she adds.

“I think that if we can also engage young people, young white men in particular, who seem to be taking up this avenue of division and hate with great relish, I think that if we can sit with people and engage them with our stories and our experience as human beings, I think that we can hopefully make this a better world.”