Was and Will Be
The world premiere of a new First Nation’s anthology Was and Will Be has picked up seven Lyrebird awards for Haileybury College.
The production dominated the Youth categories of the awards covering Melbourne’s eastern suburbs - which were announced this week - including Production of the Year, Best Ensemble and Best Director.
Was and Will Be was written by First Nations playwrights Tracey Rigney, Tom Molyneux and Brodie Murray.
It just been published by Currency Press and is available for performance around Australia through David Spicer Productions.
Was and Will Be braids together an array of Aboriginal narratives spanning monologues, dialogues, choruses and dynamic movement sequences — designed to be performed by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous actors.
The stories touch upon ancient and contemporary legacies of ceremony, community-building and truth-telling. They traverse topics ranging from the didgeridoo to Australian Rules Football.
An extract can read at Stage Whispers Books.
In an interview with Stage Whispers TV, playwright Brodie Murray said: “There is a lot of movement embedded in the dialogue from the three different writers who have very different styles. But the through line of movement and connection with country is important in all three.
“I wrote a story exploring different AFL players over the years, my father Ron Murray and his connections to the didgeridoo, and my brother and his tennis talents.”
The work was conceived by Haileybury College Drama Teacher Nick Waxman (pictured above). He has supplied stage directions and pictures of his award-winning production in the publication.
One of the aspects of Indigenous plays is they are often restricted to be performed only by First Nations actors ,which means they don’t often get repeat productions.
Was and Will Be has been designed to have completely open casting.
The scripts are inherently flexible, allowing for varied interpretations and adaptations to suit different group sizes and settings, from a duo to a classroom of thirty or a cast of 100.
Scenes can be presented in any order unless specified.
Buy a copy of Was and Will Be here.
