Locally devised work on Busselton Wadandi history to mark Saltwater performing arts centre opening

With the development of the Saltwater Busselton performing arts and convention centre well and truly underway, the City of Busselton have announced a newly developed local work which will mark the premier performance in the venue.

The State Government has contributed $148,687 as part of its Made in WA funding to the creation of the show, which will centre on the untold Aboriginal stories of the Wadandi people.

Led by a creative team of professional artists, multi-awarding winning Noongar actor Kelton Pell will serve as co-writer/director alongside Phil Thompson, telling the Busselton-Dunsborough Times he is hoping to honour local history through the performance.

“What we want to do is create a celebration of Busselton... and I think it’s about time the unforgotten heroes have really this time on stage,” Mr Pell said.

“To truth tell and share in the collective history and love of this country is a wonderful opportunity that makes me realise my responsibility to the production and I’m excited by the potential results we may find together.”

A locally produced musical-comedy with music by Wayne Freer, Saltwater venue manager Sharon Custers said the show would be the perfect way to set a high bar for the standard of arts the venue was set to bring in.

“It’s really exciting to have artists of this calibre creating the first production at Saltwater,” she said.

“You only get to do the premier production once and to have one of such a high quality, and to be about Busselton, it’s exactly what we would have dreamed of.”

The group, who are only two weeks into development, are hoping to get as much as of the community involved as possible in hopes to create an accurate reflection of local stories.

“I’m very keen for the community to get involved, particularly the Aboriginal community down here.. it’s really important for them to reach out because we want to give them the opportunity to be part of this and tell their stories,” Mr Pell said.

Ms Custers added: “One of the really important aspects of this project is that this team will be running workshops and skill building for the local community, with the next step in the process giving opportunities for people to come and join in whatever aspect they’re interested in, whether that’s music, dancing, singing.’’