Warangesda 2021

Burrundi Theatre for Performing Arts, Hub of Sovereign Arts & Culture are proud to introduce; Warangesda performed on the lands of the Gadigal people.

A rare untold mission story. The gospel truth shaking the roots of first contact in 1880 on the lands the Wiradjuri.The Warangesda story is a ground- breaking testimony to our ancestral and modern day survival. 

Burrundi Theatre re-visits the origins of Warangesda, at the time of Gribble. Warangesda of riveting antiquity, at the very peak of a spiritual convergence between Christianity and Culture. Reliving a history, our stories, we tell the story of Warangesda through the eyes and personal writings of Gribble himself. 

Burrundi Theatre have produced 'Warangesda', with the blessing and support of our families and community in the Riverina NSW. The Camp of Mercy story is a legacy to be shared and honoured.

Our respective creatives and cast members are predominately Wiradjuri descendants of Warangesda. Our cast members hail from diverse sovereign nations from WA & QLD. Our guest artists are from Australia and Cuba. in solidarity they support Burrundi Theatre.   

The Show

No name, no fixed address, surrendering to no one, nowhere is his home.  He is his father, his uncle and his grandfather, but none are him.  We follow a young man's ascendance, connecting him over many lifetimes relentless in his own reality. He continues a brutal legacy of survival as a Wiradjuri man. His life is his urban existence, on the notorious lands of the Gadigal Sydney. Displaced, his battle devours his manhood, failure is his identity and black pride his armour. His restless broken spirit leads him back to his bush mission 1880, where it started,

Actor Cast; Rhimi Johnson Page, Angeline Penrith, Bronwyn Penrith & Kip Gablin

Music Cast; Damien Bamblett, Dwayne Broome, Rhonda Grovenor & Dindi Violet

Dance Cast; Rayma Johnson, Kerry Johnson, Maci-Grace Johnson, Neville Boney, Hans Ahwang, Cleopatra Pryce, Zippora Anu, Jada Narkel, Calita Murray & Cruz Vazquez Borges

Director; Kerry Johnson

Choreographers; Kerry Johnson, Rayma Johnson & Cruz Vazquez Borges

Historic Backstory

Warangesda translates Camp of Mercy, is in the heart of Wiradjuri Country at Darlington Point, NSW. Warangesda an historical heritage site, is one of the first Aboriginal Missions of NSW. It was founded by Reverend John Gribble whose managing years were between 1880-1885 as a registered minister of the religion of the Congregational Church. The Government took over Warangesda from 1886-1925. Warangesda Mission is significant for Aboriginal Communities across NSW and Victoria, especially to the Wiradjuri People of the Riverina. Beside the precious Murrumbidgee River (Murrumbidya Bila), visitors from all over, pilgrimage to Warangesda and remember, connect to, and live it. There is known to be at least 200 unmarked graves resting there. Gribble 's missionary work reached through-out NSW, WA and ended at Yarrabah QLD.