Excellent children’s theatre is deceptively difficult to achieve. On show at Brisbane’s Out of the Box Festival for audiences under eight years old, Gurril Storm Bird is excellently assembled, even while hiding behind a veneer of simplicity.
Audiences are invited into a colourful ‘cave’, designed by Josh McIntosh. It’s a warm and inviting space, where those who can are encouraged to sit on the floor, only centimetres away from the performers. What follows is ‘Aunty’s Dance Practice’, which veers between theatre and immersive workshop. There are several dance tutorials and call-and-response sections. Eventually, the action settles into a telling of Gurril Storm Bird, a Rainbow Serpent story from the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people of Cairns.
It is a pleasing reprieve from the assault-to-the-senses of other children’s theatre, which often leaves children buzzing as if they’ve just chugged a Red Bull. Gurril Storm Bird’s tone is cheeky but gentle, thrilling without ever being scary, and soft while never sacrificing the integrity of its mission: to celebrate and advocate for First Nations culture.
Most remarkable is the positioning of the audience. Director and dramaturg Nadine McDonald-Dowd cements her reputation as a deft and ingenious director – the audience always feels a sense of autonomy and ownership within the work, but it never bubbles over into chaos. The work carefully conducts them into moments of participation, into silence, then celebratory dance, and back again. McDonald-Dowd’s direction is remarkable.
The performances from the adult cast are outstanding, with Alicia Jones being a particularly commanding but compelling matriarch. In a world-class integration of traditional and community-engaged theatre, performers are joined on stage by Year 2 and 3 students from Hymba Yumba Independent School, adding a meta-theatrical texture to concepts of sharing and celebrating culture intergenerationally.
Read: Theatre review: Never Have I Ever, Heath Ledger Theatre
This review received assistance from Ellie, aged eight, and Ruby, aged five. Ellie loved the show, “especially the dance pieces. I’d give it four stars”. Ruby agreed: “The snake was scary but I loved the cheeky man. He was very funny.”
Gurril Storm Bird deserves a national audience. It’s an outstanding piece of children’s theatre.
Gurril Storm Bird, Cremorne Theatre, QPAC
Writer: Trevor Fourmile
Director/Dramaturg: Nadine Mcdonald-Dowd
Set Designer: Josh McIntosh
Lighting Designer: Geoff Squires
Sound Designer: Cormac Finn
Cast: Jiritju Fourmile, Alicia Jones, Tjilala Brown-Roberts
Ensemble members: Year 2 and 3 students of Hymba Yumba Independent School
Tickets: $39
Gurril Storm Bird plays at Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane as part of Out of the Box Festival until Saturday 21 June.
