Past and present, written and oral histories, fact and legend, and black and white cultures are shown both in contrast and inextricably linked in The Black Woman of Gippsland,

This MTC commission, presented in association with the Yirramboi festival, is written and directed by Yorta Yorta/Gunaikurnai playwright Andrea James, and enhanced by evocative sound, visuals and dance.

James has dug up an unverified story from the 1840s about a white woman living with Aboriginal people in the Victorian region of Gippsland. She was being held against her will, according to colonists, who used this rumour as an excuse to kill traditional owners and claim their land.

However, songs by Gippsland’s Gunaikurnai people, which were written down in 1904 and rediscovered recently, suggest a female shipwreck survivor was cared for by local Aboriginal people.

Chenoa Deemal, Zach Blampied and Ursula Yovich in The Black Woman of Gippsland. Photo © Pia Johnson

James, who also wrote and directed Sunshine Super Girl, the 2022 play about Evonne Goolagong Cawley, explores these different perspectives through the eyes of Jacinta.

An Aboriginal woman writing her PhD thesis about this legend, she struggles to find the kind of proof...