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Cast of Beautiful One Day. (Source: Crikey Website)
Beautiful One Day single work   drama  
Note: Created by devisors and performers Sean Bacon, Magdalena Blackley, Kylie Doomadgee, Paul Dwyer, Eamon Flack, Rachael Maza, Jane Phegan, Harry Reuben & David Williams
Issue Details: First known date: 2012... 2012 Beautiful One Day
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Palm Island. An Aboriginal man is arrested, allegedly for insulting a police officer. Within 90 minutes, he lies dead on the watchhouse floor, his liver cleaved in two. The community protests, the police station is torched. A Senior Sergeant stands trial for manslaughter but is acquitted. Questions are raised about manipulation of evidence and a court suppression order. A protestor, jailed for inciting a riot, is out on parole on condition that he speaks to no-one.

"Beautiful One Day" is a theatrical documentary made by a group of Australians (black and white) seeking to interpret these events against the full sweep of the island's history. It seeks to grasp the ordinariness of brutality, charting the course of repression, resistance and racism but also the astonishing resilience of the people who call Palm Island home.' Source: www.belvoir.com.au/ (Sighted 12/10/2011).

Exhibitions

16086101
16598381
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Notes

  • Indigenous Theatre at Belvoir, supported by The Balnaves Foundation.

Production Details

  • A co-production with Ilbijerri Theatre Company and version 1.0. at the Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir Street Theatre, 25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills, New South Wales, 17 November - 23 December, 2011. Also produced in Melbourne, London, and in 2015 in Brisbane, and Palm Island.

    DEVISOR/PERFORMERS: Magdalena Blackley, Kylie Doomadgee, Paul Dwyer, Eamon Flack, Rachel Maza, Jane Phegan, Harry Reuben and David Williams.

    SET & COSTUME DESIGNER: Ruby Langton-Batty

    LIGHTING DESIGNER: Frank Mainoo

    COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER: Paul Prestipino

    STAGE MANAGER: Edwina Guinness

    Length: 90mins

    See also AusStage entry: https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/105474

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 2012
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Related Works

y separately published work icon The Tall Man : Death and Life on Palm Island Chloe Hooper , Camberwell : Hamish Hamilton , 2008 Z1483259 2008 single work prose (taught in 11 units) In November 2004, in the small township of Palm Island in the far north of Queensland, Detective Hurley arrested Cameron Doomadgee for swearing at him. Doomadgee was drunk. A few hours later he died in a watch-house cell. According to the inquest, his liver was so badly damaged it was almost severed. (Source: Trove)
form y separately published work icon The Tall Man Tony Krawitz , ( dir. Tony Krawitz ) Sydney : Blackfella Films , 2011 Z1762237 2011 single work film/TV

'When Cameron Doomadgee was found dead in the Palm Island police station, his injuries were like those of someone who’d been in a fatal car crash. The police claimed he had tripped on a step. The Palm Islanders rioted and burnt down the police station. The subsequent trial of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley – who had been decorated for his work in Aboriginal communities – made headlines day after day, shadowed by Queensland police threatening to strike.'

'The Tall Man tells the gripping story of the trial, of the complex Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, and of the Doomadgee family as they struggle to understand what happened to their brother. ' (Source: Madman.com.au)
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (2)

Works about this Work

No Space for Indigenous Work on Main Stage Matthew Westwood , 2016 single work
— Appears in: The Australian , 1 September 2016; (p. 15)
Beautiful One Day Review - Stage Documentary Dissects Palm Island Death 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 27 September 2015;
— Review of Beautiful One Day Paul Dwyer , Eamon Flack , Rachael Maza , David Williams , 2012 single work drama 'Devised by three theatre companies, Belvoir, Version 1.0 and Ilbijerri, the production is a musing on both the joys and injustices experienced by the Palm Island community. The piece has no playwright. Instead, the “theatrical documentary” is more a collective rumination, threading together first-hand accounts, court documents and transcripts, autopsy reports, and occasional re-enactments, with interviews of locals played on four large video screens.'
Palm Islanders Watch in Silence as Cameron Doomadgee's Story Unfolds on Stage Monica Tan , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 22 September 2015;
— Review of Beautiful One Day Paul Dwyer , Eamon Flack , Rachael Maza , David Williams , 2012 single work drama 'The main hall of Bwgcolman primary school was full of Palm Islanders but it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The evening of 5 September was the first time Beautiful One Day - a play based on the true story of island resident Cameron Doomadgee and his 2004 death in police custody - had come to the place that inspired it...'
Director Looks to Africa for First Festival Political Thread Woven through New Festival Director's Program Debbie Cuthbertson , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 26 June 2015 2015; (p. 20) The Age , 26 June 2015; (p. 31)
Play a Beauty, Says Maza 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 8 April no. 598 2015; (p. 9)
— Review of Beautiful One Day Paul Dwyer , Eamon Flack , Rachael Maza , David Williams , 2012 single work drama

'Rachel Maza counts Beautiful One Day, a play about events surrounding the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island, as one of the most powerful works she's been involved with...'
Islanders Bring Life to death in Custody Tim Douglas , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 21 November 2012; (p. 5)
— Review of Beautiful One Day Paul Dwyer , Eamon Flack , Rachael Maza , David Williams , 2012 single work drama
Palm Reading in Black and White Nick Galvin , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 21 November 2012; (p. 12)
— Review of Beautiful One Day Paul Dwyer , Eamon Flack , Rachael Maza , David Williams , 2012 single work drama
This is My Island Home John McCallum , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian , 23 November 2012; (p. 14)
— Review of Beautiful One Day Paul Dwyer , Eamon Flack , Rachael Maza , David Williams , 2012 single work drama
Palm Island Legacy Comes Alive on Stage Jason Blake , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 23 November 2012; (p. 13)
— Review of Beautiful One Day Paul Dwyer , Eamon Flack , Rachael Maza , David Williams , 2012 single work drama
Echoes Ring Out in Island's Tragic Tale Sonia Harford , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 26 November 2013; (p. 30)
— Review of Beautiful One Day Paul Dwyer , Eamon Flack , Rachael Maza , David Williams , 2012 single work drama
In the Loop: RealBlak Advance Word 2012 single work column
— Appears in: RealTime , October-November no. 111 2012; (p. 24) Belvoir produces 'One Beautiful Day' and 'Coranderrk' with Ilbijerri, Meyne Wyatt will appear for Belvoir in the title role in 'Peter Pan', Tom E. Lewis and Michael Kantor are collaborating to create 'The Shadow King', based on 'King Lear', Yirra Yaakin will stage 'The Cake Man'.
Paradise Lost Nick Galvin , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 November 2012; (p. 6-7)
Director Looks to Africa for First Festival Political Thread Woven through New Festival Director's Program Debbie Cuthbertson , 2015 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 26 June 2015 2015; (p. 20) The Age , 26 June 2015; (p. 31)
No Space for Indigenous Work on Main Stage Matthew Westwood , 2016 single work
— Appears in: The Australian , 1 September 2016; (p. 15)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (13)
Last amended 22 Mar 2016 09:00:36
Subjects:
  • Palm Island, Ingham area, Ingham - Cairns area, Queensland,
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