Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney
January 10, 2018

“There is a Fire, a bright flame that was lit in the past, it is still burning but the woods are burning out. My job is to put new woods in to keep the Fire burning.” The words of Adhi Ephraim Bani Jnr, the seventh chief of Wagadagam, Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait, underpin this wonderfully playful, heartfelt and important piece of story-telling by his grandson Jimi Bani (soon to become the ninth chief of Wagadagam) and co-creator Jason Klarwein. My Name is Jimi, premiered by Queensland Theatre in Cairns last year and now playing at Belvoir St Theatre as part of the Sydney Festival, puts four generations of the Bani family on stage, inviting the audience into their world with a multimedia collage of music, theatre and dance.

Jimi Bani, Petharie Bani, Agnes Bani, Conwell Bani and Richard Bani in My Name is Jimi. Photo © Daniel Boud

Bani – whose television credits include The Straits, Mabo and Redfern Now, and whose appearances at Belvoir have included Yibiyung, The Sapphires and Peter Pan – is a charismatic host and he’s joined by his brothers Conwell and...