Of all the ways to keep alive an ancient language, only spoken by a few hundred people, staging a Shakespearian play is not an obvious one.
But the timing of a new adaption and translation of Macbeth into Noongar by WA-born director Kylie Bracknell is sparking talk of a “renaissance” of the endangered WA Indigenous language.
The play, called Hecate and produced by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company with Bell Shakespeare, will be performed by an all-Noongar cast at the Perth Festival [in February], with the aim of celebrating the language with Noongar people and promoting it to new audiences.
Key points:
- Hecate is the play Macbeth, translated and performed in Noongar language
- The adaptation is one of several efforts sparking a “renaissance” of the language
- Many of the Aboriginal actors had to learn the language almost from scratch
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