Women of the Riverina is a powerful collaborative script of 10 stories. The play relates to the geographical community called the Riverina in south western NSW on Wiradjuri Country. This is the area that extends from the Snowy Mountains along the Murrumbidgee and the Murray (Milawa) Rivers and the regional cities and towns from Albury to Wagga Wagga.
The brief was to develop ten monologues to bring to life the resilience, humour, and insight of Riverina women and take the audience on a journey across time: including Wiradjuri women’s deep ancient relationship to Country, early ‘pioneer’ women, agricultural women surviving the harsh realities of the WWII years, and new migrants making homes in the region today..
The script was developed from a series of storytelling workshops, readings and live shows on Wiradjuri Country in rural halls and in a residency at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. It has been written in collaboration with groups and women from diverse communities, including Wiradjuri Elders, Curious Rabbit arts hub for LGBTQI artists, Eastern Riverina Arts, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery community, Booranga Writers, and Multicultural Council of Wagga Wagga.
| In 2022 we began collaborating on a series of storytelling workshops, readings and live shows on Wiradjuri Country across the region in rural halls and in Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. Through that process we encouraged women to develop confidence in writing, developing short monologues and investigating performance techniques. We collaborated with diverse groups and individual women from all communities, working with Wiradjuri Elders and creative women, Curious Rabbit arts hub for LGBTQI artists, Eastern Riverina Arts, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery community, Booranga Writers, and Multicultural Council of Wagga Wagga. In 2024 Co-Producers Lliane Clarke, Vicki Birkinshaw, Haya Arzidin and Aunty Cheryl Penrith invited women to take part in Women of the Riverina, opening submissions, running workshops and sharing storytelling through mentoring sessions. At a residency at E3 Workspace at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, next to Wollundry Lagoon, we collaborated to develop the final script of stories. Listening, talking, learning, creating, recording, writing … incredible storytelling and making! We were blessed to work alongside Aunty Cheryl Penrith and invited to take part in the Wiradjuri Creatives Series workshop at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. The originating cast was made up of all women of a mixture professional and amateur performers, from Sydney and from the Riverina community. Specifically a First Nations woman actor and a woman from a migrant background are essential in two of the actor parts. The movement artists were women amateur performers who were able to move confidently on stage and comfortable with some improvisation. ABOUT THE WRITERS Aunty Cheryl Penrith OAM is a Wiradjuri Elder, mentor and performer with a passion for fashion. Her focus is community development and capacity building, business and strategic planning, cultural empowerment, community health and wellbeing, involvement in decision making and the revival and reinvigoration of cultural practices such as language, possum skin cloak making workshops and women’s cultural business. Cheryl appeared in the Voices of Women feature film Entanglement, was a writer and performer in Amplify in 2022 and in Embellishment at KXT Broadway in 2023. Arvis Casanova is a non binary 18 year old writer from Wagga Wagga. Growing up in Wiradjuri county at The Rock, they were fairly isolated, and as a result spent their free time climbing trees, exploring dirt roads and the local creek, which were some of the few places that felt safe. Arvis attended the song makers workshop in January 2024, collaborating with other young local artists to create songs with a variety of topics and styles. They performed at Great Southern Nights, showing original songs played on their guitar. Ruth Davys is a Wiradjuri woman, an artist, educator, and passionate cultural advocate, whose work blends storytelling, art, and language to foster deeper connections with Country and community. A leader in cultural tourism, Ruth offers unique experiences that take visitors on guided walks along the Yindyamarra Sculpture Trail in Albury, immersing them in the rich heritage and stories of the Wiradjuri people. Claudia Haines is a proud Gamilaroi woman from Moree living on Wiradjuri Country. “I enjoy fishing, camping, painting, weaving and spending time with my family. I am a Disability Support Worker and I love helping people with their goals and ambitions. I am kind, gracious, caring, resilient, respectful and funny. I love the opportunity to paint or weave when I’m not busy with work. When I go out camping and fishing, I always acknowledge the Country I’m on and connect to Country.” Gabrielle Tozer is an award-winning author, freelance writer and editor based in Wagga Wagga in regional New South Wales. She is the author of eight books, including The Unexpected Mess of it All, Before We Met, Can’t Say It Went to Plan, Remind Me How This Ends and The Intern, which won the 2015 State Library of Victoria’s Gold Inky Award. Her work has been featured in anthologies including Teacher, Teacher (edited by Megan Daley) and Begin, End, Begin (edited by Danielle Binks). She has appeared at numerous literary events, including the Sydney Writers’ Festival, the Somerset Festival of Literature, StoryFest Out West, Riverina Readers Festival and the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s national conference. Haya Arzidin is a writer and performer, appearing in TOME, a fully improvised show with four actors which toured to Brisbane in 2021. Working closely with the refugee community in Wagga Wagga, she co-developed Sharing Stories Sharing Place at the Wagga Civic Theatre in 2021. Haya was a writer and performer in Embellishment on tour to Wagga Wagga and Dubbo in 2023. Imogen Rubi is a performer and writer who was born and raised in Wagga Wagga. She has written for the stage, touching on gender and the fluidity of identity, with her debut short play ‘The Study of Rueben March’ in the 2024 Tenx10 Play Festival. Jody Roberts is a Widjabul woman of the Bundjalung nation who draws inspiration from her Ancestors, Mother Earth, Father Sky, and the vast realms of the natural and cosmic worlds. Through her writing, Jody aims to foster a deeper understanding of humanity’s relationship with the natural and cosmic realms, celebrating the profound beauty and complexity of existence. Marie Clear is a Wiradjuri woman who lives, loves and writes poetry, prose and short stories in Wagga Wagga. She is a mother, grandmother and foster mum. Marie has been commended in the Sutherland Shire Literary Competition (2020), published in, The Fabian journal (2022) and the Mona magazine (2022) Booranga Anthology Four W 29,(2019) Booranga Anthology Four W 30, (2020) Booranga Anthology Four W 31, (2021) Booranga Anthology Four W 32, (2022) and Finding My Feet (Melbourne Poets Union’s Anthology 2024). Melanie Reeves is a proud Wiradjuri woman who is a catalyst for positive change in the Murrumbidgee health landscape with over ten years’ experience in strategic planning and management. She is passionate about advancing patient centred care in regional and remote communities. Roz Hasan came to Wagga Wagga in November 2016 as a refugee, and has embraced the opportunities available in this welcoming community. Currently in Year 12 at Wagga Wagga High School, she is inspired by the transformative power of education and the supportive environment of the community. |
