Jurrungu Ngan-ga (Straight Talk)

Marrugeku is a company with conscience; born from remote lands, highlighting cultural differences and our response to local and global situations, their art form is fueled by true collaboration and history. Marrugeku is led by co-artistic directors choreographer/dancer Dalisa Pigram and director Rachael Swain. They are responsible for workshopping ideas and bringing performers and audiences together to tell stories and promote change.

Marrugeku’s patron Patrick Dodson is a Yawuru law man and national reconciliation advocate. The concept of Jurrungu Ngan-ga (Straight Talk), came from conversations about Aboriginal deaths in custody and our response to the refugee crisis. Painful topics to tackle, but important, Dodson frames the questions in order for the artistic directors to breathe life and give a voice to those silenced. Influenced by auto-biographical novel No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, Pigram and Swain were able to find the necessary tools to power the narrative.

A bare stage framed by towering metal structures, that isolated the performers and served as a backdrop for illuminations and close-ups, was menacing. Lighting design by Damien Cooper only added to the foggy and turbulent tone of the piece. This hybrid consists of dance, spoken word, music, rap and tradition. Choreography took influence from many cultures, as performers contorted their limbs echoing the turbulence of their journey and ongoing mental and physical anguish experienced.

Powerful, provocative and uncomfortable at times, it begged the question, “How could this still be happening in a civilized society?” I can’t speak highly enough of the performers’ intensity in their delivery. Raw and confronting, choreographer Dalisa Pigram evoked the ongoing trauma involved with incarceration. While much of the piece showed heightened emotion, there were many tender moments that united the 11 performers.

The fear and frustration that dates back to the colonization of this country and lives on through the confinement and mistreatment of the Indigenous and the marginalized was successfully captured in this frenetic performance. This unbearable topic needs to be questioned until a humane solution is reached. Marrugeku captured a mood that was powerful and thought-provoking. Simply stunning!

Kerry Cooper

Photographer: Andrew Beveridge

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