Nakkiah Lui is back at the Sydney Theatre Company with new play

Following a sell-out premiere season of Black is the New White, playwright Nakkiah Lui is back at the Sydney Theatre Company with a new work – Blackie Blackie Brown: The Traditional Owner of Death.

Combining live-action theatre with projected animations, Blackie Blackie Brown, directed by Declan Greene, is a comic book come to life – a superhero origin story.

Dr Jacqueline Black is an Aboriginal archaeologist working on a dig somewhere in the Australian bush. Uncovering a mass grave, she picks up a skull and is suddenly seized by a transcendent power.

Jacqueline’s great-great-grandmother speaks to her from beyond the veil. She speaks of the white men who brutally massacred her family. She speaks of that sin being passed down through the generations. She tasks Jacqueline with exacting revenge – she must kill all 400 descendants of the men who murdered her ancestors. A cold-blooded vigilante is born: Blackie Blackie Brown, the traditional owner of death.

Newcomer Megan Wilding takes on the title role, and Ash Flanders plays every person she needs to kill.

“The very first time I read this show my jaw hit the floor. It was so shocking and awesome and extremely ferocious.” Megan says.

Nakkiah Lui’s script is part action movie, part satire, and political venom. The visuals are based on original illustrations by Emily Johnson, with visual effects whiz-kids Oh Yeah Wow creating animations that mesh seamlessly with the actors on stage.

The creative development of Blackie Blackie Brown was produced by Performing Lines with support from ACMI, the Australia Council for the Arts and Create NSW.

World Premiere.

12 May – 30 June. Opening Night: Thursday 17 May 7.30 pm.

Wharf 2 Theatre. Bookings: 02 9350 1700 or boxoffice@s7ydneytheatre.com.au