Entertainment
7 November, 2025
First Nations theatre hits Bulmba-ja
CAIRNS will host a significant First Nations theatre initiative as the Queensland Theatre Company (QTC) presents Creative in Cairns, celebrating the next generation of Indigenous storytelling.
CAIRNS will host a significant First Nations theatre initiative as the Queensland Theatre Company (QTC) presents Creative in Cairns, celebrating the next generation of Indigenous storytelling.
The free event will take place at Bulmba-ja Arts Centre on Monday, 10 November and Tuesday, 11 November. Audiences will experience works-in-progress and play readings by artists from Far North Queensland, including Burning House by Phoebe Grainer, Forgotten Songlines by Minjil, Biw a Githalay by Uncle Milton Walit, John Harvey and the seven clans of Saibai Island, and Let There Be Light by Isaac Drandic.
Isaac Drandic, QTC’s Head of First Nations Theatre, said Cairns’ creative energy and strong community connections made it an ideal location. “There was so much sort of wonderful talent up here and incredible stories that really speak to a part of our sort of national identity that we don’t often hear,” he said.
Mr Drandic described Biw a Githalay as “an incredible children’s story that grandmothers have been passing down to their grandchildren. It’s a bedtime story that they’ve been telling for, you know, the last 100 generations or more, which centres sort of around the four winds. And it’s a very deeply sort of cultural work that speaks to the sort of climate and climate change.” The performance features traditional Saibai Island puppetry, a practice that has been passed down for thousands of years.
Burning House explores the history of Far North Queensland and the relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. At the same time, Let There Be Light examines “the intersection between Aboriginal spirituality, from my own perspective and Christianity,” Mr Drandic said.
“Theatre is an absolute form of truth-telling. Obviously, the narrative around the First Nations people in Australia has been out of our control for the last couple of 100 years. Still, through theatre, through storytelling, we’re able to tell our story from our perspective,” he said.
Cairns has also become the first permanent base for First Nations theatre development by a major state theatre company in Australia. Mr Drandic said the initiative is an ongoing commitment: “Our cultural landscape is richer because of the connection that we have to community and our community engagement when telling First Nations stories.”
The public is invited to attend this opportunity to view works at various stages of development and experience the early stages of theatre-making in Far North Queensland.
