Black Cockatoo

More than 150 years ago, 13 brave Aboriginal men embarked on a treacherous voyage to England and into the unknown – all in the name of cricket.

Directed by Wesley Enoch and featuring a stellar First Nations cast, BLACK COCKATOO is not just a story about sport – it is one of strength, resistance, hope and possibility.

Risking illness and persecution, Australia’s first international cricket team – including our original Indigenous sporting hero, Johnny Mullagh – amazed the English crowds with astonishing talent, personality and grit. They should have returned to Australia as celebrated heroes. Instead they came back to find the world they once knew gone.

Funny and incredibly moving, BLACK COCKATOO is an artistic collaboration between Australian writer Geoffrey Atherden (Mother and Son, Babakiuera) and acclaimed director Wesley Enoch (Black Diggers).

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proudly POWERED by

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SUPPORTED BY

This project has been assisted by The Balnaves Foundation, the NSW Government, Arts on Tour and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

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TICKET INFO

We take the safety of our patrons, staff and artists seriously.

A COVID Safe Plan is in place for Brisbane Powerhouse.

By purchasing tickets, you agree to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in line with Government mandated vaccination requirements.

For contact tracing purposes, we are using the Check In Qld app. For a seamless entry on the night, we recommend downloading the Check In Qld app prior to your arrival as well as providing proof of vaccination.

If you are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 or are feeling unwell, please stay home. 

Detailed information regarding your safe experience and conditions of entry can be found here.

If you have any questions, please contact Box Office on 07 3358 8600.

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MORE INFO

Australian Cricket is full of characters and stories. Few would know about the first-ever Australian team to tour to England; that it was made up of 13 Aboriginal cricketers from Western Victoria, that one player died and was buried in London or that Johnny Mullagh was our first Australian sporting hero. Telling neglected stories is what theatre does well.

The decision to have an all-Indigenous cast, where the actors play all roles including white English characters, is a way of owning the whole story and providing a commentary on race politics. Actors switch seamlessly from actors today, Aboriginal characters in 2018, and a range of characters in 1868. Time and place are fluid as we connect the past, present, and future to tell this story.

Founded in 1958, Ensemble Theatre is the longest continuously running professional theatre in Australia. Ensemble’s extensive history of touring productions include the 20-venue tour of Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks in 2007 which won a Helpmann Award for Best Regional Touring Production, the Drover Award-winning national tour of Tuesdays With Morrie (2011), the acclaimed 26-venue tour of Frankenstein (2013) and most recently Melanie Tait’s heart-warming comedy The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race (2021) which delighted audiences across NSW and Canberra.

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