Cover Image: Real-life father and daughter Derek and Shaquita Nannup feature in Which Way Home. Photo by Frances Andrijich Boordah

The father-daughter road trip Which Way Home is the first of three fantastic main stage shows for 2016 from Noongar Boodjar-based First Nations theatre company Yirra Yaakin.

Katie Beckett’s heartfelt journey of love, legacy, and belonging (28 April – 9 May 2026) is based on Beckett’s own memories of growing up with her single Aboriginal father. 

Infused with humour and heart as the pair reconnect on the drive back to Country, Which Way Home premiered in Melbourne in 2016. Reviewing a later production in 2018, ArtsHub writer Ann Foo said Beckett’s depiction of a very special bond between an Aboriginal father and daughter was a much-needed counterpoint to prevailing media stereotypes – highlighted by a controversial Bill Leak cartoon in The Australian – of Aboriginal fathers as drunk neglectful parents of criminal children.

The WA premiere of Which Way Home features real life father and daughter and much-loved Yirra Yaakin performers Derek and Shaquita Nannup, and remains a timely to look at the positive aspects of Indigenous father/daughter relationships, while recognising that all of us have our flaws.

Second up for 2026 is the at-times nasty study of Tasmanian heritage, questions of the ownership of human remains, and of the right to claim Indigenous identity, from playwright Nathan Maynard titled At What Cost? (17 July – 1 August 2026).

The main stage season is topped off with Jacky by Declan Furber Gillick (23 October – 8 November 2026) co-produced with Black Swan State Theatre Company. A contemporary urban work, the title gives the central conflict away. Our protagonist comes to feel of himself as a “Jacky,” or little more than a provider of his white clients’ needs, no matter how much he might at times empathise with them, or they with him.

“These productions speak to who we are, where we come from, and where we’re going,” Yirra Yaakin Artistic Director Maitland Schnaars says. “These stories are all WA premieres that deserve to be seen, shared, and celebrated. They explore themes as varied as Father/Daughter relationships, tick a box Blackfullas and Black exploitation.” 

Moving beyond the stage shows themselves, Yirra Yaakin will continue to run Community, Young Artists’, Education, and Emerging Storytellers’ programs, a testament to its commitment to community and artist development.

While outreach is valued with any arts organization, for First Nations communities, this is arguably much more important than the main stage performances. Yirra Yaakin’s astonishing achievements in this field are to be commended.

Queensland’s Kooemba Jdarra sadly folded in 2007, so Ilbijerri in Melbourne is now the only company comparable to Yirra Yaakin on the national scene. In 2026 Ilbijerri will also mount three mainstage productions, whilst doing additional outreach and other activities.

Yirra Yaakin’s  continuing commitment to Noongar language will be seen through the metropolitan and regional primary school tours of their education work Djinda Kaatijin (to learn about the stars) and the Ngalaka Daa program in partnership with West Australian Youth Theatre Company (WAYTCo). 

As Schnaars says, it is “language” above all else that defines a people. Some years ago, the former Yirra Yaakin artistic director Kyle Morrison reached out to Bell Shakespeare Company and the international Shakespeare network to develop the Noongar Shakespeare Sonnets. Play the game of global English poetics, Morrison wisely counselled, because Shakespeare was and is so powerful that it has helped define poetry itself. If Noongar values and poetics can become linked to these artistic practices and, dare I say, replace them, then a colonial restitution might be possible.

This includes both international online showings and in-person school shows of the young people’s Dreaming compilation Djinda Kaatijin (To Understand Stars),  the Ngalaka Daa Ensemble (which grew out of the Bell Shakespeare collaborations), to say nothing of a tour of that Australian First Nations classic Seven Stages of Grieving (originally produced by Kooemba Jdarra in 1993 and mounted by Yirras earlier this year). Yirra Yaakin’s artists will have a full year spreading Indigenous storytelling in 2026.

With the exception of Djinda Kaatijin, most of the productions are of scripts originally developed over east, so Yirra Yaakin is also auspicing the development and reading of new local scripts through the Yirra Yaarnz program, with the hope that some of these will later go to full production.In reaching audiences not only in Western Australia, but right across the world, an outcome few national companies achieve. Yirra Yaakin is very much the noodji (mouse) that roared.

More information and ticket purchases for Yirra Yaakin’s 2026 season can be found at: https://yirrayaakin.com.au