Director's Note | Lazarus

Ahead of Lazarus opening at Theatre Works later this month, hear about the show from Director and industry legend Kamarra Bell-Wykes.

Uncle Larry Walsh and John Harding are both living legends, renowned for their dedication  to  advocacy,  justice  and self-determination for the Victorian First Nations community.  They are respected and revered role models, grass root heroes and reluctant leaders. They are fathers, uncles, brothers, sons, agitators, story tellers and rebel adventurers that possess larger than life presences  and epic yarns. Both of these incredible men have been my own personal and professional mentors for many years, supporting my journey as a Blak woman and theatre maker. Their advice, encouragement and example have been invaluable inspirations and constant reminders to live in truth, power and purpose.  Just being in the room with both of these icons at the same time is a life lesson in history, politics and comedy that will split your sides and blow your mind. 

To witness the formal collaboration of LAZARUS with John skilfully curating Uncle Larry's  life journey on the page is nothing short of phenomenal.  John has captured the essence of Uncle Larry's extraordinary and miraculous life journey across the generations from a child, to a man, to a revered Elder. To be invited to direct such a significant work is a massive honour and responsibility and I will endeavour to bring the magic, beauty and triumph that is Uncle Larry’s life and John’s craft on the stage. Ultimately LAZARUS is a story of family, love, community, country, heartache and pain, a story of healing, forgiveness and transforming trauma into weapons of change, a story of Aboriginal men that White Australia again and again attempts to destroy and that again and again Aboriginal men resist, survive and rise above. 

Staging LAZARUS was an opportunity to bring this incredible biographical yarn to life, elevating the original Yirramboi staging to its most elevated form. Working with elements of the original design we reimagined the sound track and the form, utilising physical comedy and stylised naturalism to weave the eclectic tapestry of  memories, worlds and characters of LAZARUS. life. Through the audition process I was struck with the vision of casting 3 actors to play Lazarus across the generations, boy, man and Elder to embody his full life span, exploring how the past and the present merge to become the full version of LAZURUS. This also provided an opportunity to cast an all First Nations ensemble with the cast playing across multiple roles both Blak and Non-Indigenous to deliver a dynamic and playful performance. The slapstick form honours the Blak humour at the heart of our community’s survival and resistance and a trademark that myself, Johnny and Uncle Larry all share is the overriding compulsion to to have a wicked laugh in the face of injustice, heart break and trauma. 

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Lazarus plays at Theatre Works 21 May - 6 June. it is featured on the VCE Playlist.

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