1972
Street theatre was organised by the Aboriginal community in Redfern by 1972 as a form of political action. Its value in publicising issues was used to support many protests and rallies in the early 70s. Gary Foley recalls one action to support the establishment of a legal service. Informal and formal theatrical performances were staged to raise awareness about the tent embassy and the land rights demonstrations which at the time were being organised by the Black Moratorium Committee.
sketches and street theatre ... in hotels, in lounges of pubs... We performed as black theatre groups, as street groups, in the marches. Black theatre would get involved with all the political demonstrations.
Workshops
After working in the United States as a director and actor for eight years Brian Syron returned to Sydney and following his award winning directorial production at The Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli, of "Fortune and Men's Eyes" he held acting classes in 1969 for Indigenous actors including Gary Foley and Dennis Walker at the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs.
He is still interested in helping to create a black theatre in Sydney and will be willing to train Aboriginal people who are interested in becoming professional actors.
Paul Coe, a law student, approached Jenny van de Steenhaven, also known as Sheehan, a non Aboriginal drama student to run classes for young people in 1971. They were given a grant of $870 to continue the workshops and play readings in February, 1972.
An art workshop was involved in the printing of posters (including those for the N'ingla a-na rallies) and in ceramics, sculpture, carving, etc. N'ingla a-na (1972) is a 72 minute documentary directed by European Australians Alessandro Cavadini and Carolyn Strachan and it is considered
an historically significant film, one of the first to examine the land rights movement and Aboriginal activism...highlighting the work of the Aboriginal Health and Legal Service and the national Black Theatre as examples of the growing movement for self determination
The writer's workshop studied theatre, provided group material, wrote plays, and supplied some of the scripts for the revue. It was also involved in various long-term programs and the assessing and analysing of scripts.
Carole Johnson, an African American dancer, toured Australia with the Eleo Pomare Dance Company in February and March. They witnessed the media coverage of the tent embassy, and the attempts to remove it, and understood the human rights issues.
Eleo insisted that Aboriginal people be invited guests to his performances ... He had the first three rows reserved for them .. a first.
Carole stayed in Sydney and was introduced to Jenny Isaacs who was working for the Australian Council for the Arts.
She told me she'd be here anyway, could she work here. I said Redfern mob would love to see your performance; we organised a bus to get people there. Within two weeks we drummed up a grant application for Carole to stay on the basis she would be doing workshops.
Carole started classes in May, using St Luke's Church hall by the end of the year. Participants included Euphemia Bostock, her daughter Tracey, Wayne Nicol, Norma Williams (Ingram), and Elsie and Joanne Vesper. The dance workshop was filmed in Sharing the dream.
Funding
Coe and Sheehan applied on behalf of ‘Black Theatre’ for funding from the Council of the Arts for training, to expand the drama workshops. They were refused on the grounds of ‘lack of expertise’ and 'inexperience’. Other similar, equally inexperienced, groups received funding when they were formally established – APG in 1970 and Nimrod in 1971. Casey outlines this as one of a number of obstacles they faced.
In mid 1972 Bob Maza was invited to come to Sydney, to share his experience. He had set up Nindethana in Melbourne with Jack Charles, and had had a number of roles in television. A grant of $500 from the Council of the Arts went towards his train ticket and relocation costs. His ‘professional’ status did attract the funding that was needed. $5500 was granted by the Council of the Arts. Maza had been to the United States in 1970 as part of a delegation to the Pan African Conference. He and Sol Bellear spent some time working and studying with the National Black Theatre of Harlem. Perhaps inspired by that, Redfern's National Black Theatre took shape. Also helpful, Maza had experience writing his own material, as existing texts weren’t meeting their needs. They rented a house at 174 Regent Street, and for workshops were given use of the hall named Murawina behind a church by Wayside Chapel and the Aboriginal Women’s Action Group who operated the children’s breakfast program. (Shepherd Street Chippendale?) Maza ran the workshops when Coe and Sheehan had to resume their studies.
When Carole went to South East Asia in September to continue her investigation of dance cultures, Phemie Bostock, assisted by Wayne Nicole, took over the coordination of the Dance Group. Carole proposed an Aboriginal Community Arts - Education Centre to the Aboriginal Arts Advisory Committee, encapsulating the needs and wants of the community. Social outlets, and cultural and training programs were needed in Redfern.
First performances
The first formal and publicly acknowledged performance by Black Theatre was street theatre in 1972 to publicise the Black Moratorium and the Gove land rights claim against Nabalco, (now Rio-Tinto Alcan). This was broadcast nationally by This Day Tonight.
The next performance was to lead the Aboriginal land rights demonstration, held on 14 July across the country on NAIDOC Day. The Pitjantjatjara expression N'ingla-a-na 'We are hungry for our land' became the rally call.
For the first time Aboriginal people with their families came out on the streets in large numbers to support their younger people.
Six days later, on 20 July, the news came through that the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra had been removed.
At the re-erection of the tent embassy, on 30 July, the Black Theatre performed the Dance of the Embassy, also called The challenge which was a symbolic re-erection of the tent embassy but portrayed the whole history of Aboriginal / European conflict and gave powerful expression to the emotions of that event.
On 7 September, the dance group performed a public concert at the Friends' hall in Devonshire Street, Surry Hills. It was a presentation of class work, works in progress and students' material. The Embassy dance, called Awakening, was revised to include traditional Aboriginal movements.
I think everyone present sensed that this was a very significant event for the Aboriginal community, and the considerable number of Redfern ‘Koories’ present bore this out.
Basically black
When Bob Maza came to Sydney, he undertook an apprenticeship program for directors and actors with the Nimrod Theatre Company. In the absence of a performance space, the political revue Basically Black was performed at the Nimrod Theatre Company's Stables Theatre, directed by Ken Horler. The cast included Aileen Corpus, Gary Foley, Zac Martin, Bob Maza and Bindi Williams. The revue was a biting satire, continuing the response to the High Court ruling against a traditional claim to land ownership. The reports were that it was very funny. Premiering 27 October, a successful season of five or six weeks ran until December 3.
The final performance coincided with a federal election and the famous ALP / Gough Whitlam victory.
the cast, crew and audience gathered in the theatre foyer to party and watch the results of the Federal election come in on specially installed TV sets ... the McMahon government (and twenty-two years of conservative rule) lost the election to a Labor landslide.
Ebony Profile Casting agency
Also at this time certain advertising agencies began offering work to local blacks. This interest led to the formation of Ebony Profile, a part of NBT established as a black casting agency providing people with a grounding in advertising, television and films. The agencies and TV producers rely on “Ebony Profile” to provide them with actors, actresses, etc.
By the end of 1972 NBT, as it was known, was based at 181 Regent Street, an umbrella organisation for a range of groups.
Read more about this topic: Black Theatre (Sydney), History