Last week was Clancestry. On the Saturday afternoon we made it to just one of the many wonderful shows on, the play Gunawarra Re-Creation by Isobel Morphy-Walsh.

Gunawarra Re-Creation by Taun Wurrung writer Isobel Morphy-Walsh is a contemporary play that explores the continuation of culture through stories passed down between three generations of women.  

Isobel Morphy-Walsh says of the play Murrun has returned to the watering hole. The same one Aunty Aggie used to take her to. The sacred one. Present and past collide. There she meets her old friend Gunawarra. The Black Swan. And there ensues their story. One of continuation of culture, creation and stories of Blak women’s healing.“

Adapting its narrative from the traditional Kulin story of Gunawarra – the black swan, and how they came to have black feathers – the work is set on Taungurung Country and traverses Blak women’s strength, survival and healing in a profoundly emotive production.

Weaving creation stories with narratives of today are vital in understanding who I am and the culture I come from.

Gunawarra deals with creation stories. It deals with Taun Warrung (Taungurung) cultural, spiritual and religious beliefs.

It also deals with the experience of violence to female bodies and the recovery from that violence. It has conversations about Stolen Generations and the way in which their trauma can be passed on to the next generation

To see my culture. To hear my language. To see my traditional dance on a main stage is beyond my wildest dreams and beyond my ancestors’ wildest dreams. Telling this story has been a gift.

We enjoyed (my husband, daughter and I) having a yarn with Lisa Maza, my husband’s childhood friend who was playing Aunty Aggie, after the show. We were lucky to also meet the rest of the cast and director.

We asked one of the actors how heavy the costumed wings she wore were, which she told us. We shared how much we had enjoyed the show.