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Bringing local stories to life
For over 30 years, Theatre Kimberley has created high-quality arts opportunities with and for Kimberley communities. We connect local people with local and visiting professional artists and arts organisations.
Big Country Puppets - Wyndham Balanggarra Rangers Feb 2025
The Big Country Puppets team started a huge year with a five-week residency in the East Kimberley working with the Balanggarra Rangers.
The project built on a two day creative development in late 2024, which drew on written archival and oral stories from the area. Development of the resulting theatre work, A River is Born, continued in Wyndham in early February. Project artists Bernadette Trench-Thiedeman, Eduardo Maher and Sandy McKendrick travelled from Broome and Perth, with Jacob Gregory joining mid-project to lead musical development. Rangers chose different giant puppets to work on - brolga, jabiru, bush turkey and Unggud (Rainbow Serpent).
The project and finale show was a great success involving a deep level of engagement from numerous partner organisations and individuals. Balanggarra Ranger, Miranda Johnstone reported that the performance was very moving and affirming for the community, particularly for people from Oombulgurri, where the show’s three creation stories originate.
