Renowned First Nations play premiers in Perth for the first time

Next week, renowned First Nations play, Brothers Wreck, premiers at the Subiaco Arts Centre. Supported by an outstanding indigenous cast at Yirra Yaakin, Australia’s leading Aboriginal theatre company, this is a unique opportunity to experience iconic Australian theatre at its very best.

Written by award-winning Aboriginal playwright Jada Albert’s, Brothers Wreck was first performed in 2014 to rave reviews at Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre. It has since been performed in theatres across Australia to critical acclaim, including Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, by the SA State Theatre Company in Adelaide and three times at the Yellamundie Festival including performances in New Zealand and Canada.

The story begins with a death. On a hot morning under a house in Darwin, Ruben wakes to find his cousin Joe hanging from the rafters. What follows is the story of a family, buffeted by constant tragedy. It’s a play that asks how do we deal with death and how many other people does it take for each of us to live? Little by little, Ruben’s family brings him back from the edge.

The Perth season starts on Friday next week and runs for two weeks from July 5 to July 20. That includes the final week of school holidays and so it is a great opportunity for your 15+ kids to experience First Nations theatre, keeping in mind the confronting content. There is also a series of special events including: the Saturday matinees; Q&A with the artists and special access performances for the hearing and visually impaired. Tickets are limited, so book now!

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The Artists

Tyren Maclou

Ruben 

Emerging actor Tyren (Tre) Maclou is the lead actor for this show. He is a proud Aboriginal/South African Australian. Maclou is a truly versatile actor who has been praised for his depth of characterisation in both classic and contemporary pieces. Since 2020, Tyren has performed a wide range of roles in plays including Even Hands (Xylo), Rockstars (Nat King Cole), Our Country’s Good (LT Faddy), King Lear (King Lear), Much Ado About Nothing (Conrade) and Fatherland (Craig Mutch). His dramatic prowess for emotionally demanding characters is sure to blow you away in a character-driven story like Brothers Wreck.

Della Rae Morrison

Petra

Della Rae Morrison is a Bibbulmun woman of the Nyoongar Nation of the Southwest WA and has been acting professionally for 30 years. She started her career in Jimmy Chi’s musical Bran Nue Dae in 1989. Della was nominated for Performing Arts WA Awards Best Actress for her performance in the Mudskipper’s Production of Banned in 2018.

Della appeared in the Australian children’s television series Lockie Leonard and has also performed in various theatre productions and film, with an impressive list of theatre credits that include: Headspace (1997) with Yirra Yaakin, Bratwurst & Damper (2005), Jimmy & Pat Meet the Queen (2000) and Red Alert (1999) with Deckchair Theatre and Fifty Shades of Black (2013) with Yorga Waabiny.

Della was nominated for Performing Arts WA Awards Best Actress in an Independent Production for Mud skipper’s Production of Banned for Perth Fringe Festival 2018.

Ruebin Yorkshire

David

Rubeun Yorkshireis a visual artist, dancer, stage combat choreographer, and actor who is well known for his performance as Banquo in the award-winning production of Hecate (Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company). After graduating from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts(WAAPA) in 2010, Rubeun performed in shows Kep Kaatijin (2015), Boodjar Kaatijin (2016–2017), Djinda Kaatijin (2017) and Kaarla Kaatijin (2018) for Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company. He also performed in West Australian Youth Theatre Company’s award-winning Fringe World show, Rest (2019).

Rubeun was a key collaborator on Boomerang and Spear’s Noongar Wonderland presented at the2022 Perth Festival, co-choreographing a series of dances fora new collection of Noongar-language dance tracks by Maatakitj (Clint Bracknell). He worked as fight choreographer on the productions Hecate (Yirra Yaakin, 2020) and Conversations with the Dead (Yirra Yaakin, 2017).Rubeunhas alsocompleted a range of public art for corporate, major festivals and education institutions. His voice is featured on the ground-breaking language reclamation film Fist of Fury Noongar Daa (2021).

Jessie Ward

Adele

Born in Mackay, Queensland and raised in the country town of  Toodyay, Jessie started her journey into acting at the local theatre club in Toodyay. After a few years of local theatre, Jessie took her passion and dreams to the city of Perth, where she studied for two years at WAAPA, graduating in 2017 with a Diploma of Screen Performance and Cert IV in Aboriginal Performance.

Upon graduating WAAPA, Jessie has worked with Yirra Yaakin Theatre, Freeze Frame Opera, Constable Care, and other independent companies while also discovering her passion for writing. The opportunities from WAAPA have given birth to writing a short film, short stage plays and now blossoming into her love of poetry. Her love for acting and writing has continued her internal aspirations and has she been breathing them into reality as she continues growing as an actor, writer, and person.

Mark Nannup

Jarrod

Mark Nannup is a Yamatji Noongar man from Western Australia. Mark completed the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Acting short course, where he played Thisbe in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A year later he was accepted into the Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) at The University of Melbourne and graduated in 2019.

Throughout his three years at VCA he has played Monster in F***ing A(dir. Candy Bowers), Montano in Othello dir. Budi Miller), Mike in Arthur Miller’s A View from The Bridge (dir. John Kachoyan) and Securitate in Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest (dir. Sean Mee).He has been involved in a number of short films and documentaries. Some of his film and TV credits are: Coming of Age, Love Your Neighbour and The Black Rat. Mark also works a casual narrator for SBS.

Maitland Schanaars

Director

Director Maitland Schanaars is a Noongar actor, poet and award-winning writer who has been Yirra Yaakin’s head artistic director since 2023. Schnaars’ written works merge perception with reality by combining poetry, multimedia, visual art, movement and sound. He was a founding member of physical theatre company Corazona de Vaca and has performed in and co-created several of its productions, one of which was at the 2008 World Expo in Spain.

Maitland has worked with many theatre companies around the country, including Black Swan STC, Queensland Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre and Performing Lines with TASPerforms. He is also a member of Wadumbah Noongar Dance Group.

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