NAMATJIRA at CIVIC THEATRE NEWCASTLE Address

Namatjira is another groundbreaking new Australian work by Scott Rankin (Box the Pony, Certified Male, Stickybricks). He teams up once again here with Trevor Jamieson, following their national sell-out sensation Ngapartji Ngapartji, to bring us the deeply moving story of Albert Namatjira. In their sure hands, we are taken on a journey, at turns deeply compelling and hilarious. The rich watercolours of Namatjira’s story are transformed into a momentous theatrical event, and have already brought audiences to their feet night after night at the Belvoir Street Theatre.

Utilising Jamieson's elegant physicality, and the music of internationally renowned Genevieve Lacey, this story captures the intense beauty, depth, opportunism, mateship and injustice that has shaped our country. Namatjira is more than a night at the theatre; this is an experience of art, live on stage. Before our eyes, the grandchildren of Albert Namatjira - third generation watercolour artists - assist with the re-telling of his life, filling the stage with a huge landscape drawing of their desert country.

Albert Namatjira's achingly beautiful watercolours introduced the lounge rooms of Australian suburbia to the exquisite beauty of our central desert heartland. In a similar way, this sweeping narrative acts as a window through which we can see ourselves, and our nation, as clearly as the landscapes he gave to us.