We are memory.
Glimpsed through shimmering light on water.
A story place where black oaks stand watch.
Carved into trees and painted on rocks.
North - South - East - West.
A brittle landscape of life and loss.
At Yuldea, stories hover in the sky. The stars reveal a divine Songline, stretching between earth and sky.
Frances Rings’ first work as Artistic Director is a ceremonial affirmation of history and heritage. Yuldea awakens the earth and sky worlds to tell the story of the Anangu people of the Great Victorian Desert.
Yuldea explores the moment traditional life collided with the industrial ambition of a growing nation. In 1917, the two halves of the Transcontinental Railway met at the precious water soak on the edge of the Nullarbor, Yuldi Kapi.
Great metal serpents scarred the landscape, draining all water from the sacred soak. Then came the black mist of the atomic testing at Maralinga, forcing the Anangu people to leave their desert homelands where they had lived for millennia.
Now memories lay scattered, like the Anangu people, displaced from their home. Remnants of colonial progress are swallowed by sand. But the Anangu endure, determined to keep strong their knowledge systems of land and sky, honouring their eternal bonds of kinship between people and place.
Yuldea features original music by Leon Rodgers and guest composers multi-award-winning electronic pop duo Electric Fields (Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross). Designers Elizabeth Gadsby (Set), Jennifer Irwin (Costume) and Karen Norris (Lighting) create a desert world on stage.
Please be advised that this performance contains strobe lighting, haze, smoke effects and elevated sound levels.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander audiences should be aware that this production contains voices of deceased persons.
Our 2024 regional tour is presented by Country Arts SA and supported by Arts on Tour.
RESOURCES
Reviews
- ★★★★★ “Yuldea is an embodiment of harmony between story, vision and being” - Arts Hub
- ★★★★ “Yuldea is so fresh and uninhibited it almost bursts off the stage” - Sydney Morning Herald
- ★★★★ “Yuldea is a powerful work, confirming Bangarra is in good hands with Rings as Artistic Director” - Limelight
- ★★★★ "This powerful piece of theatre will move, astonish and enlighten" - Time Out Sydney
- ★★★★ “[Yuldea] is a fine example of how the story of a place and its people can be brought to life”. - The Age
Video by Cass Eipper
