Na Djinang Circus and House of Oz present
Of The Land On Which We Meet
Dates: 31 July – 27 August,
Time: 5:30pm (60 mins)
Do we still feel the land? Do we hear its history and spirit?
Your work Of The Land On Which We Meet explores contemporary Australia’s relationship to history, land, and spirit – What excites you about bringing the show to Scottish audiences for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer?
The show sees 3 people who, by no real choice of their own, need to navigate a pretty complicated landscape – the actions of their ancestors and the tension that affects their lives. I think this is not just an Australian challenge, but a global one. The First Nations experience is thought to be very particular and individual – which it is in many ways – but it’s also pretty universal.
And that’s what we tried to capture in this show. Indigenous culture is not stagnant and we want to share modern culture and demonstrate its quality and value. Alongside this, the Australian Voice Referendum had global coverage, yet the impacts and implications didn’t and don’t get the same coverage. We wanted to share how this too has impacted the Australian context overall.
The show is a three-hander that communicates through three distinctly personal stories. How has this structure helped you to form the piece and what sort of story can audiences expect performers Johnny Brown, Bridie Hooper, and Manuela Kaydo-Nitis to tell?
The show begins in a very personal place: we get to hear stories from each performer’s past. Stories about their relationship to Country or defining moments from the places they grew up. From there the monologues shift to more present observations on the current context.
This is an intentional structural choice to first ground us in the individuals and show how their connection and history with the land has shaped them. It is essential to remind us that all people have a history and emotional connection to a place, before unpacking the more complex questions we face.
Na Djinang Circus’ work is known to be visually stunning. If you could describe the visuals of this performance in five words, how would you?
Earthy and bold in simple forms. We wanted to find an aesthetic that connected to the show’s themes, so we based it around industrial mining and used copper and metallic colours.
Circus is often thought of as a fairly accessible artform. What is it about this medium that translates to such wide audiences?
The reason for this is the lack of text to form the storytelling. Circus instead uses body language and connection between people, which makes it accessible across all cultures. Ironically, in Of The Land On Which We Meet, the reverse is true. Our work intentionally has text to help translate the Australian context clearly so audiences can decipher the circus.
The show discusses how we can become disconnected in our modern lives. How did you find your own personal connection when creating the piece?
I’m not sure we did. That’s one of the driving factors in making this show. The making process of this show reminds watchers that to belong is a core human need – to belong is just another way of saying to be connected to something. When you understand that you and everyone around you is just trying to do that, you can see people more clearly.