NORPA, Media Release, 24 July 2024
Powerful, enlightening and entertaining, My Cousin Frank is a storytelling experience with one of Australia’s greatest artistic and cultural leaders, Rhoda Roberts AO. Join Rhoda in a special evening as she shares tales of her first cousin Frank Roberts, a boxing champion who was the first Aboriginal Olympian.
Rhoda has been working with her immediate and extended family, the Widjabul Wia:bul community and First Nations creatives for over two years now with the ambition of creating a new theatre work which is currently in development – First Aboriginal Olympian. This process has revealed the story’s richness, complexity and significance of Frank Roberts’ life and the time in which he lived. My Cousin Frank seeks to be the first step in sharing this story.
“My Cousin Frank provides insight into why boxing was so important in our family, the limited pathways out of poverty, the push for education, the story of Cubawee Aboriginal Reserve, our family and community. I am so proud to be sharing this part of our family story and to put Lismore on the map as the home of the first Aboriginal Olympian,” said Rhoda Roberts AO.
“Writing this story involved extensive research, community consultation, and personal reflection. It’s been a journey of uncovering my family’s history and ensuring its authenticity and impact on the audience,” said Rhoda about the process.
Northern Rivers based Director/Choreographer Kirk Page is working with Rhoda Roberts to bring the fighting spirit of Frank Roberts and her mob to life in the telling, as she recalls a family’s journey from the tumultuous era of dispersal and silence to navigating a world controlled by Government policy.
“My role in staging this storytelling project was to ensure that the essence of Frank’s journey and the Roberts family’s spirit were vividly conveyed. What attracts me to this story is its profound significance and emotional depth. It’s a story that needs to be told,” said Kirk Page.
NORPA’s Executive Director, Libby Lincoln says My Cousin Frank is an important creative step to the creation of a new NORPA theatre production – First Aboriginal Olympian. “The story of Frank’s life is so rich that we wanted to support Rhoda in honouring his life and legacy by first simply telling his story. We hope the story of the first Aboriginal Olympian will attract the national attention it deserves.”
Don’t miss this opportunity to join Rhoda Roberts in this special evening of personal storytelling.
My Cousin Frank
- Writer/performer – Rhoda Roberts AO | Director – Kirk Page
- AV Design – Jahvis Loveday | Sound Design – Damian Robinson
About Rhoda Roberts AO
Rhoda Roberts AO is a Widjabul Wia:bul woman of the Bundjalung Nation. She is an award-winning producer, artistic director, journalist, broadcaster, actor and arts advisor who continues to make a vital contribution to the media, performing and Indigenous arts in Australia. Amongst her many achievements Rhoda co-founded Australia’s first national Aboriginal theatre company, was the first Aboriginal presenter on prime-time TV, founded and directed the Festival of Dreaming and was Head of First Nations Programming for the Sydney Opera House. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2016 for distinguished service to the performing arts. Rhoda is NORPA’s Creative Director of First Nations, Creative Director of the Parrtjima Festival in Alice Springs and Director of the Boomerang Festival.
NORPA presents
My Cousin Frank
Written and performed by Rhoda Roberts
Directed by Kirk Page
Sat 24 August – 2pm & 7.30pm – Star Court Theatre, Lismore
Fri 30 & Sat 31 August – 2pm (sat only) & 7:30pm – Byron Theatre, Byron Bay
Tickets on sale now at www.norpa.org.au
My Cousin Frank is supported by Creative Australia and Create NSW. This project was also made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia.
