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https://www.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/aug/30/straight-from-the-strait-theatre-review-qpac-brisbane>
"It is an epic tale, a source of pride for its people, yet a story little known
by Australia at large. On a single day in 1968, in the scorching Pilbara heat,
137 men – mostly from the Torres Strait – smashed a world record when they
laid, spiked and anchored seven kilometres of railway track in 11 hours and 40
minutes.
Now recreated on stage at Brisbane festival, this feat, part of a nine-month
project to build 400km of rail line from Mount Newman to Port Hedland, has
received its overdue celebration in the joyous musical
Straight from the
Strait, presented by Opera Queensland, the Yumpla Nerkep Foundation and the
Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
The 15 performers and six-piece band are all Indigenous, some directly
descended from the rail workers. The story created here centres on three
brothers – eldest Kusa (Harold Pascoe), middle brother and narrator Pinau
(Vaughan Wapau), and youngest brother Boyor (Paul Isakara Williams) – who
journey across the sea because of lack of employment on their (unspecified)
island home.
A giant earth-coloured suitcase on stage cleverly shapeshifts to a house, a
lugger at sea, and finally the railway stores, while the music digs deep and
ambitiously wide, from the rousing opening hymn Baba Waiar – a blessing song
widely known across the strait’s five major island clusters – to much
traditional dancing that prompts the audience to whistle loudly with approval.
There are numerous new compositions in English, poking good-natured fun at
gospel, country and the romantic idioms of musical theatre. In between, there
are generous bursts of harmonising in Meriam Mir, Kala Lagaw Ya and Torres
Strait Creole; sounds that would have been heard on the railroad itself.
Composer, co-librettist, music director and arranger Rubina Kimiia has spoken
of aiming for a “raw sound, the sound of the islands” with this musical,
“rather than a refined sound”. It’s true, there are occasional wrong keys and
the odd flat note, but the spirit, authenticity and cheer of the work still
swept me away."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
