Dylan Van Den Berg's 'Whitefella Yella Tree' Opens in Sydney
Whitefella Yella Tree, Written by Dylan Van Den Berg is now playing at Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney.
Once in a blue moon, in the middle of nowhere, two teenage boys meet under a lemon tree. After a rough start, a fragile friendship fruits into a heady romance. Ty and Neddy fall madly in love, as teenagers are wont to do.
If history would just unfurl a little differently, the boys might have a beautiful future ahead of them. But without knowing it, Ty and Neddy are poised on the brink of a world that is about to change forever. It’s the early 19th century. Ty is River Mob. Neddy is Mountain Mob. And the earth they stand together on is about to be declared ‘Australia’.
Dylan Van Den Berg is early in his career but has already won several playwriting awards. It’s easy to see why. He has a shrewd ear for dialogue, writing lively and lovely scenes for Ty and Neddy that contain a clear internal compass pointing ever-forward: as the stakes get higher and their reality becomes more fraught, we feel it deeply.
At first glance the work is deceptively simple and accessible, but it soon becomes clear that there are a myriad echoes reverberating throughout. Van Den Berg layers in multiple thematic associations with apparent ease to create a narrative that becomes at once specific and tangible yet timeless. The sheer depth and variety that this work dares to approach could have drowned a lesser wordsmith but here it appears almost pared back, yet every word packs a punch.
Running until 23rd September at Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney followed by a run at Canberra Theatre Centre 28th September - 1st October.
