Chopped Liver: A Look at the Tour The Hepatitis C Council of SA (HCCSA), in partnership with the Aboriginal Health Council of SA and many other local Aboriginal health organisations, worked for many months to bring an exciting new play, Chopped Liver, to South Australia recently for a two-week tour around Adelaide, Port Augusta, Port Pirie and Murray Bridge. With the support of the Department for Correctional Services, Chopped Liver was also performed in three prisons: Adelaide Women’s Prison, Port Augusta Prison and Mobilong. Chopped Liver, by talented writer Kamarra Bell-Wykes, is a ‘blak’ comedy which follows the lives of Lynn and Jim for a number of years, from their teen years, through the risky exploits of Melodie Reynolds and Isaac Drandich in Chopped Liver
young adulthood (which included exposure to the hep C virus) to the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood. Melodie Reynolds and Isaac Drandich, from the Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative, were exceptional in the two lead roles, as comments from audience members demonstrate: ‘Had me believing you were really married and presenting your own story.’
‘An unforgettable performance–I was captivated from start to finish.’ ‘This play is really educational but, at the same time, hilarious.’ ‘Deadly! A strong performance. [It] really got to me. Your message was strong.’ The production was excellent, with simple but effective visuals and sound effects to provide the context for the characters to move between their country and city locations at different stages of their stories. PJ Rosas from Ilbijerri was in charge of these effects, and demonstrated his calm determination and tour experience in overcoming unexpected hitches, such as flight damage to technical equipment, to get the show on stage in a variety of venues. Lisa Maza, the tour manager, was also fantastic in providing support to all the Ilbijerri team during the tour, and liaising with all the SA organisers. The South Australian tour was launched at Tauondi College by Che Cockatoo Collins, who acknowledged the shame, fear and stigma surrounding hepatitis C in both indigenous and nonindigenous communities in his speech, and who reinforced a key message of the play: that ‘it is important for our mob to learn the facts about hep C and not be in fear of our brothers and sisters who have been infected with this virus’. John Harvey, general manager at Ilbijerri, and Kylie Belling, the artistic director, also made it over to Adelaide for the SA launch, and were well pleased with the response to the play from the Adelaide audience, which included a number of local Kaurna elders. There were 12 performances in the two weeks of the tour. Over 500 people saw the play, with around 70% of audience members being from indigenous communities. Leslie Wightman, John McKiernan and Nicci Parkin from the education team at HCCSA also
toured with the play to be on hand to answer any questions about hep C from audience members. Clinton Dadleh from the Aboriginal Health Council of SA joined the HCCSA educators on the road to regional areas. From audience members: ‘That was too deadly. This is just what our people need to get greater understanding.’ ‘Great to see a play set in a Nunga way of doing business.’ ‘Was really good to see our people talk about hep C and know its affects on our families. More people should take notice.’ ‘That was fantastic! You should do a second tour, so we can tell everyone about it and they can see it.’ ‘Awesome play! Need more of the community to see this.’ Clearly, these comments suggest that Chopped Liver was very effective in raising awareness of hep C and its impacts in communities, and that many were keen to have others see the play too. Perhaps we can convince funding organisations that a second SA tour of Chopped Liver in the future is well worth while! The Hepatitis C Council of SA would like to thank the Australian Government Hepatitis C Education and Prevention Initiative, the Aboriginal Health Division of the SA Department of Health, and Nunkuwarrin Yunti for funding the tour, as well as the many other Aboriginal organisations who supported the tour by providing a ‘feed’ after the show. We would especially like to thank the members of the organising committee for the SA Tour: Clinton Dadleh, Christian Wilson, Paul Newchurch, Jaimie Cripps, Rachel Abdullah, Renae Porcelli and Diat Alferink.
Hepatitis C Community News 12 • December 2007 Internal Pages - Dec 2007.indd 12
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