Bloodland

(Sydney Theatre Company)

Staged in association with the Bangarra Dance Theatre this play is performed mostly in the Yolngu language and in Pidgin English.

Runu is in love with Gapu but she is already promised to Billy. Her clan has become separated from his as a feud develops between these two communities in the Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory.  There are multiple sources of tension including negotiations over the terms of an arrangement with a mining company, the intrusion of modern technology on the younger community members, the influence of hallucinogenic substances and divergence in attitudes between the university educated members and the traditional clan members.

Given that I have no knowledge of the Indigenous language I needed to refer to the program to elicit the information about the three way relationship but the various sources of tension were mostly evident from the staging and the rather beautiful design of the play.

A very different and at times beautiful offering from the STC which in the past has been focused on traditional Western theatre.