First Nations Speaker Series
3 August 2023
In the Utzon Room
Talks and Ideas
Celebrate 50 years of First Nations performance at the Sydney Opera House and hear how the performing arts influences critical conversations and connects audiences and creatives with culture.
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Date |
Time |
|
Thursday 3 August |
6pm |
This is a Free event for all to enjoy.
Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times.
Sydney Opera House Insiders pre-sale
8am, Tuesday 20 June
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What’s On e-newsletter on-sale
9am, Wednesday 21 June
General Public tickets on-sale
9am, Monday 26 June
In English
Wheelchair accessible
Audio loop available
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House
Run time
This talk runs for approx. 1 hour.
Event duration is a guide only and may be subject to change.
Age
Recommended for ages 12+
Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Join us for the First Nations Speaker Series
Presented in collaboration with Museums of History NSW, GML Heritage and the Research Centre for Deep History at the Australian National University, this special First Nations Speaker Series hosted by the Sydney Opera House, will celebrate performing arts practice through a First Nations lens.
Performers and industry leaders will share the power of performance in creating space for challenging conversations, celebration and sharing of culture. Broadcaster Rudi Bremer will lead a conversation with Frances Rings, Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, Dr Liza-Mare Syron, founding member of Moogahlin Performing Arts, Dobby, a leading rapper, drummer, composer and producer and newly announced panellist Steven Oliver, comedian, performer and creator as they explore the influence of First Nations performance and the experience of performing at the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Meet the speakers
Rudi Bremer
Rudi has been a radio broadcaster since 2012. Having honed her skills at community radio, Rudi initially joined the ABC as a master control technician before returning to her producer roots in 2017. As the producer of RN Awaye! Rudi relishes the opportunity to share her love of performing arts, literature and Indigenous languages — like her own, Gamilaraay, from Kamilaroi country.
Dr Liza-Mare Syron
Liza-Mare has family ties to the Birrbay people from the Mid-North Coast of NSW. A theatremaker and academic, she is a founding member of Moogahlin Performing Arts, and as a key member of the company’s Co-Artistic Directorate for over ten years has recently been appointed Senior Artistic Associate. Liza-Mare is currently a Co-Associate Dean of Indigenous in the Faculty of Arts Design and Architecture and an Indigenous Scientia Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts and Media at UNSW. She is widely published in the field of Indigenous performing arts. She has sat on many boards and committees and her creative outputs include directorial roles and as a dramaturge on various independent projects across the country.
Frances Rings
Frances is a descendant of the Wirangu and Mirning Tribes from the West Coast of South Australia. Frances Rings became Artistic Director in 2023 after Stephen Page stepped down from the role after 33 years. Rings has been the Associate Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre since 2019. Frances made her main stage choreographic debut with Bangarra with the work Rations (Walkabout, 2002) and received outstanding critical acclaim. In 2016, Terrain toured regionally to Western Australia and South Australia, continuing in 2017 to regional Victoria and Tasmania. Unaipon was remounted as part of Bangarra’s 30th anniversary program, 30 years of sixty five thousand, in 2019. Frances has choreographed works for many of Australia’s leading dance companies including West Australian Ballet and Tasdance, as well as continuing a successful independent career. Frances has also danced in works by many of Australia’s leading choreographers and companies including Meryl Tankard, Leigh Warren and Legs on the Wall.
Dobby (Ryan Clapham)
DOBBY is a rapper, drummer and music composer. He proudly identifies as a Filipino and Aboriginal musician, whose family is from Brewarrina on Ngemba land, and is a member of the Murrawarri Republic in Weilmoringle, NSW. He has performed extensively locally including BIGSOUND and Sydney Opera House, and internationally in Germany, UK, USA and the Netherlands. DOBBY recently took out the best video for 'I CAN'T BREATHE' in the 2020 FBi SMAC Awards. I Can't Breathe has become the unofficial anthem of Australia’s Bla(c)k Lives Matter protests and is being used throughout schools in Australia as material alongside curriculum to assist in educating students. DOBBY is a multi-instrumentalist who's increasingly known for bouncing between piano, drums, & drum pads, with his unique signature ‘drapping’ (rapping & drumming at the same time).
Steven Oliver
Steven Oliver is a descendant of the Kuku-Yalanji, Waanyi, Gangalidda, Woppaburra, Bundjalung and Biripi peoples. He became notorious with ABC’s Black Comedy as a writer/actor/associate producer where his creations ‘The Tiddas’ helped earn him a FAVOURITE COMEDY PERFORMER OF THE DECADE nomination in the 2020 AACTA’s.
Other TV roles include Indigenous Arts Quiz Show Faboriginal for which he was creator/writer/presenter, writer/presenter on award winning documentary Looky Looky Here Comes Cooky and features in acclaimed documentaries Occupation Native and History Bites Back. He recently appeared in the comedy series Aunty Donna’s Coffee Café and the music drama mini-series In Our Blood.
His web series A Chance Affair was nominated for best web series at the 2018 LGBTIQ Australian Awards and Screen Producers Australia Awards.
His poetry is published in national and international poetry journals such as Ora Nui, Australian Poetry Journal, Solid Air, Admissions, Firefront, Nangamay Mana Djurali and the Institute For Modern Art’s publication of Making Art Work. His plays Proppa Solid and From Darkness are published by Playlab.
His cabaret show Bigger & Blacker premiered at the 2019 Adelaide Cabaret Festival and in 2021/2022 toured regional Queensland also playing at La Boite Theatre Brisbane, Sydney Opera House, Malthouse Theatre Melbourne, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Perth International Cabaret Festival, Darwin Festival, Horizon Festival and Belco Arts Canberra.
He co-hosted the 2022 Sydney Mardi Gras for the ABC, the 2022 National NAIDOC Awards and the National Indigenous Music Awards for NITV/SBS Viceland. In 2023 he has performed a selection of his original songs for Melbourne’s Midsumma Extravaganza
at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and also the Sydney Opera House backed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra while hosting the Blak & Deadly Gala as part of Sydney World Pride. Festivals in 2023 include performances, poetry readings and panel discussions at Adelaide Writers Festival, Alice Springs Impaarja Light Festival
and the Brisbane Writers Festival.
Other information
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six min walk to the Opera House.
Covid-safe information
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We’re committed to making your experience safe, comfortable and enjoyable, with a number of measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. We remind our audiences and visitors to please stay home if you feel unwell. If you need to discuss your ticketing or booking options, contact our Box Office team on 02 9250 7777.
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We have a number of safety measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. While face masks are no longer required, we ask all our patrons and visitors to practise good hygiene. Please stay home if you feel unwell and read more about our flexible ticket options.
The Sydney Opera House no longer requires patrons to show that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Frequently asked questions
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Please take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
In accordance with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. RESALE RESTRICTION APPLIES. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
The venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances.
Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues. Opera Bar, Opera Kitchen and Portside are also available for you to enjoy.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.
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