10 February - 4 March 2023, Perth Festival
4 - 7 May 2023, Red Earth Arts Festival
A Perth Festival Commission
WA Youth Theatre Company (WAYTCo) returns to Perth Festival with a beautiful new work co-directed by emerging Noongar/Greek theatre maker Cezera Critti-Schnaars and WAYTCo Artistic Director James Berlyn. Seven Sisters is about creative young people on Boorloo, coming to terms with old knowledge. Look up! Don't look up! We are made of star stuff whether we like it or not.
This work is a response by a diverse group of emerging artist/performers to the Noongar story of the the Seven Sisters made in consultation with Noongar Elder Roma Yibiyung Winmar. This isn't a retelling of the story, after all which version would you tell? This Seven Sisters riffs on the meaning and metaphor of the very human need to tell stories about the stars and what it is to be young at a time when we've never had more 'access' to information old or new.
The WAYTCo Ensemble comprises WA's best and brightest emerging artists who collaborated with the creative team to make a mesmerising work to be performed in conjunction with the stars of the Bunuru night sky at several select Boorloo locations during the Festival.
’The stars belong to no one.’ Roma Yibiyung Winmar
More info here.
Image credit: Jess Wyld. Featuring: Lexi Sleet, Monique Mitchell, Lil Murrel, Makaela Rowe-Fox
REVIEWS
'A particularly poignant moment comes from Makaela Rowe-Fox who, instead of gazing at the black abyss above, looks straight ahead to an audience of primarily older theatregoers: “As easy as it might be to tell you about how beautiful the stars are, I can’t do that if I can’t fucking see them!” She talks of sky-glow obscuring the stars, about capitalism, the ecological crisis and, ultimately, the disproportionate pressure this places on young people. This uncomfortable truth hangs in the air. “I’m sick of being told I’m the future. Like stars, old people are from the past but they’re also our future,” she calls out. “The future, isn’t young. It’s ancient.”' -- Rosamund Brennan, Perth Festival 2023 open to the world - with Aboriginal techno, the promise of Björk and uncomfortable truths, The Guardian
'the production is heartfelt and moving... Makaela Rowe-Fox successfully links a screed about capitalism and light pollution with a reflection on the importance of family.' -- Richard Watts, Theatre Review: Seven Sisters, Artshub
'...each artist used the story of the Seven Sisters as a launching pad to tell stories about their relationship with the night sky... it’s Makaela Rowe-Fox’s comment, “As easy as it might be to tell you about how beautiful the stars are, I can’t do that if I can’t fucking see them,” that stuck in my mind.' -- Andrew F. Peirce, Perth Festival 2023: Björk, Kronos Quartet, Djinda and The Trees We Have Lost, The Curb
Co-directors: Cezera Critti-Schnaars & James Berlyn
Cultural Consultation: Roma Yibiyung Winmar
Composer: Levi Widnall
Composition Mentor: Rachael Dease
Performers & Collaborators: Jayda Corunna, Lily Baitup, Stella Finn, Rebecca Haywood, Monique Mitchell, Lil Murrell, Makaela Rowe-Fox, Lexie Sleet, Jono Battista, Victoire Hemedi, Levi Widnall & Louis Neylon-Williams
Lighting Designer: Jolene Whibley
Lighting Mentee: Andy Lands-Robson
Noongar Lyrics: Kobi Morrison
Producers: James Berlyn & Leah Maund
Stage Manager: Emily Stokoe
