A musical journey through the heart of the country

HEART IS A WASTELAND tells the story of Raye, a struggling country music star in the making. Riding her luck, Raye is playing pub to pub along Australia’s vast desert highways, flogging demo CDs for ten bucks a piece until she can go home to Alice and look her son Elvis in the eye. Raye’s life becomes entwined with that of another wanderer and a love affair unfurls over the four-day drive to Alice Springs. Combining First Nations storytelling at its strongest with live music, HEART IS A WASTELAND is an intimate portrait of two achingly beautiful characters that cut to the country’s heart through a whisky-fuelled battle of the egos, hidden scars and reverence. HEART IS A WASTELAND is a luminous journey towards the recognition of everyone’s worthiness of, and right to, love.

Venue Format
Theatre, Black Box Venue
Technical Rating
B
Touring Party
5
Considerations

Performances contain adult content and themes.

ILBIJERRI is the longest running Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander theatre company, and one of the leading theatre companies in Australia.

ILBIJERRI creates, presents and tours powerful and engaging theatre, creatively controlled by Indigenous artists. Our stories are provocative and affecting and give voice to our unique and diverse cultures.

Each year we travel to national, regional and remote locations across Australia and the world. Since 2010 we have presented 17 new works, performed 530 times in 256 venues to 85,218 people.

ILBIJERRI is an advocate and leader for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in Australia. In this role we deliver a broad program of Artist Development for new and emerging Indigenous writers, directors, actors and creatives.

Born from community ILBIJERRI has become a spearhead for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in telling our stories of what it means to be Indigenous in Australia today.

Our work possesses the power to reach out and remind audiences of every person’s need for family, history and heritage. Our collaborative relationships with communities and artists are at the heart of our creative process and all our work empowers and enlightens our audiences.

Company Website
ilbijerri.com.au

Unique Selling Point

HEART IS A WASTELAND is a dynamic hybrid of First Nations music and dynamic story telling. HEART IS A WASTELAND is a work that is universal in its humanity, but complex in its Indigeneity. It is at once both relatable and unrelatable and therein lies its sophistication. Much like its ending, it is unresolved yet not unsatisfying and it leaves the audience pensively wanting more.

Marketing Materials

We will create a fully comprehensive marketing kit, that is to a high quality standard, that ILBIJERRI and BROWN CABS produces for all of it's work. This will include:

  • print material templates for A0, A3, A5 posters and postcards
  • key images
  • rehearsal images;
  • filmed interviews with the director and cast;
  • media kit / press releases;
  • professional recordings of original compositions.

This work will come with full education resources with a specific focus on year 11 and 12 drama and Indigenous studies. This resource includes: notes from creatives; and a tailored connection to the national curriculum.

Community Engagement

ILBIJERRI has an extensive range of community engagement activities it offers with all of its tours. This includes:

  • Q&As
  • Panels
  • writing and directing workshops
  • workshops / set tours specifically designed for schools