Presented by Multicultural Arts Victoria and Regional Arts Victoria and proudly supported by the Sidney Myer Fund.

Kutcha Edwards with Andrew McSweeney & Tonchi McIntosh in yuyukatha (Mutti Mutti - to dream)

Following on from a successful Regional Arts Victoria tour, Multicultural Arts Victoria and Melbourne Aboriginal Youth, Sport and Recreation (MAYSAR) gym are proud to support a community performance of "yuyukatha".

Saturday 16 October 2010
Melbourne Aboritinal Youth, Sport and Recreation (MAYSAR) Gym,
184-186 Gertrude Street Fitzroy

Kutcha Edwards

Kutcha Edwards, Mutti Mutti man, National Indigenous Person and Aboriginal Male Artist of the Year 2001, Human Rights Award and VIPA theatre award recipient joins with musical friends Andrew McSweeney and Tonchi McIntosh in yuyukatha (to dream).

Yuyukatha is a musical and story-telling performance that takes you on a cultural journey.

In the great Aboriginal tradition, Kutcha Edwards tells his incredible life’s journey through a series of songs & stories - some funny, others heart rending.

RSVP

Please RSVP by Email to office@multiculturalarts.com.au or phone (03) 9417 6777 by Wednesday the 13th October to secure your seat.

Flyer

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In the Press

Singing his way back home , review in The Age, July 5 2010 by Liza Power, Kutcha Edwards gives voice on stage to his family's tragic story...

Kutcha Edwards

Kutcha shares his experience of the stolen generations as seen through the eyes of someone taken from the banks of the Murrumbidgee River as a young child.

His music touches the soul and through his humour and insights we realize that with recognition of the true Aboriginal history, there can be hope of reconciliation.

www.kutcha-edwards.com

"Kutcha Edward's soft voice and deeply personal songs have made him a legend in the Indigenous community...but what's special about Kutcha is how he's overcome personal hardships to achieve his success. And he's now dedicated himself to helping young Australians do the same." ABC Reporter

photo by Mardi Thorpe

The regional Arts Victoria page for this event can be found here.

picture by Mardie Thorpe

History of Project

Following the launch of his album Hope, in 2007, Kutcha was inspired to develop a show entitled 'Songlines of a Mutti Mutti Man'.

Sharing the stage with a full band and his extended family Kutcha mesmerized the audience with his unique and big-hearted storytelling style.

After a sell out season in 2007/2008 Kutcha has spent his time touring, writing, performing and developing his new show 'yuyukatha' - his journey continues...

photo by Mardie Thorpe

Yuyukatha Team

Kutcha Edwards - Storyteller, Musician; As one of Australia's respected Indigenous singer/songwriters, Kutcha's music and community work has made him a legend in the Indigenous community and beyond. Kutcha has toured, performed and made connections throughout Australia and internationally. For many years he was lead singer in Blackfire who began as a community fund raising band and who ended up touring China, Mexico and Japan. He has since gone solo with the Kutcha Edwards Band and recorded two albums, Cooinda and Hope. Recently Kutcha and his 11 brothers and sisters created a theatre performance 'Songlines of a Mutti Mutti Man'. In the great tradition of oral history, Kutcha and his family presented a unique and personal insight into the stories and songs of the Stolen Generations. Now the songline continues with yuyukatha.

Tonchi McIntosh - Musician The Melbourne based singer songwriter, raised in the 'Back 'O' Bourke', has a Mexican heritage. Performing at major music festivals and producing songs and albums in remote communities around Australia, Tonchi regularly travels the country that he loves. He sings with a warm, clear sighted passion for the land and it's traditional owners.

Andrew McSweeney- Musician Andrew is a singer/songwriter based in Melbourne. Andrew's music traces his personal journey to the heart of matters and connects all that is valuable in life and love. Andrew has made a commitment to use music in supporting the process of healing and recovery whether it is for himself, for others or for the community through his business Living Music.

Pauline Whyman - Director Pauline is a proud Yorta Yorta woman. A graduate from Swinburne University of Technology with a Diploma of Arts for Small Companies and Community Theatre. She is a two time VIPA (Victorian Indigenous Performing Arts) Award winner and a highly acclaimed actress, theatre maker and filmmaker. Giving voice to her people’s stories through theatre, film and television is Pauline’s passion. Some career highlights are productions such as 'Stolen' - Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Theatre/Malthouse Theatre, 'Windmill Baby' for Yirra Yaarkin Noongar Theatre, 'Fever', 'Up The Ladder' - Melbourne Workers Theatre, 'The Birthday Party' - Melbourne Theatre Company, 'The Cherry Pickers', 'Stolen' & 'Blacked Up' - Sydney Theatre Company, 'Riverlands' - Windmill Performing Arts and 'Wonderlands' Hothouse Theatre and her highly acclaimed short film 'Back Seat'. All have toured extensively throughout the national and international festival circuits.

John Romeril - Dramaturg In a forty-year career as a dramatist, John Romeril has had nearly eighty works for stage, film and television produced. Some he wrote entirely. Others were collaborations. In 2000 (co-written with Rachel Perkins), 'One Night The Moon' got both a cinema and tv release, winning the Australian Writers Guild AWGIE for 'Best Television Original', and 'The Major Award' in 2001. He won the Canada-Australia Literary Award (1976) and the Patrick White Award (2008).

Naretha Williams - Sound Designer A proud Wiradjuri hybrid born and based in Melbourne, is a talented professional with over 20 years experience in the arts and entertainment industry. She has toured nationally and internationally for both Indigenous and non-indigenous productions and in 2008 won the Uncle Bob Maza VIPA Award for her Outstanding Contribution to Victorian Indigenous Theatre, and recently won Melbourne Fringe Festival Indigenous Artist of the Year 2009.

Danny Pettingill- Lighting Graduating from the VCA in 2006, Danny is a Melbourne based lighting designer for Theatre and Industry and has worked for companies in Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart such as; The Hayloft Project, Red Stitch, Ilbijerri Theatre, LaMama, Full Tilt, The Malthouse, B Sharp, Terrapin Puppet Theatre and recently the Company B smash "The Power of Yes". He received three Melbourne Greenroom nominations for work in 2008 and 2009, receiving the 'Most Outstanding Independent Lighting Design' in 2008 for The Hayloft Project's Platonov.

Jess Keepence - Production/Stage Manager Jess is a graduate of the Bachelor of Production at the Victorian College of the Arts. Since graduating, Jess has worked on many different projects including Ranters Theatre's Holiday, Sydney Theatre Company's Riflemind, Priscilla the Musical, South Korean Tour of Eurobeat - Almost Eurovision, the Next Wave Festival, Melbourne Fringe Festival & Woodford Folk Festival, Melbourne Theatre Company's Poor Boy, The Birthday Party & The Drowsy Chaperone and Victorian Opera's The Bear / Angelique (Victorian Opera).

Supporters

Proudly supported by the Sidney Myer Fund, The Edwards Family, Regional Arts Victoria, Melbourne Aboriginal Youth, Sport and Recreation (MAYSAR) / Fitzroy Stars Aboriginal Community Youth Club Gymnasium and Ilbijerri Theatre.

Regional Arts Victoria

The regional Arts Victoria page for this event can be found here.

Multicultural Arts Victoria acknowledges that Indigenous Australians are the first people of this land.

Respect

We pay our respects to all Indigenous people, past and present, and recognise their continuing spiritual connection to the land.

For the Wurundjeri, Boonerwrung, Taungurong, Djajawurrung and the Wathaurung which make up the Kulin Nation, Melbourne has always been an important meeting place.

Today, Melbourne is one of the great multicultural cities of the world.

Reconciliation

Multicultural Arts Victoria is committed to reconciliation and we have a strong commitment to respect Indigenous beliefs, values and customs as we learn and share and build a future together.

Multicultural Arts Victoria acknowledges that there were generations of children who were taken from their families became known as the Stolen Generations.

The practice of removing children continued up until the late 1960s meaning today there are Aboriginal people as young as their late 30s and 40s who are members of the Stolen Generations.

Almost every Aboriginal family has been affected in some way by the policies of child removal.

Taking the children away was one of the most devastating practices since white settlement and has profound repercussions for all Aboriginal people today.

We acknowledge that yuyukatha is story of Kutcha Edwards and his family - the stolen generation.

We hope to learn from this and to create greater awareness and a broader understanding of the issues surrounding the Stolen Generation and to place this new work as an important groundbreaking piece of indigenous theatre that challenges and inspires us all towards hope and reconciliation Kutcha Edwards is one of those stolen children who can share his intimate story passionately and wisely through theatre and song.

photo by Mardi Thorpe