Yellingbo: a new drama by Tee O’Neill

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La Mama Theatre is pleased to present Yellingbo, an ingenious, darkly witty drama from acclaimed local playwright, Tee O’Neill, (BARASSI The Stage Show) exploring the limits of Australians’ generosity in the context of today’s refugee crisis.

Set in an ordinary Australian living room, where all appears normal…until it isn’t, Yellingbo builds towards an explosive ending which leaves us asking: When it’s time to put our human values into action, whose lives do we save? Do we only protect our immediate family? What if family turns out not to be family…?

With twists and turns that will keep you riveted, Yellingbo is inspired by the playwright’s experience working and living with 32 asylum seekers. It is particularly timely in Melbourne – and Carlton – after recent attention drawn to the refugees held in Swanston St’s Park Hotel, a site of ongoing contention, as pressure mounts on the federal government for the detainees’ resettlement.

Writer Tee O’Neill said:

Yellingbo is about the limits of our charity. It was inspired by my time working as an English as a second language teacher to 40 asylum seekers from all over the war-torn world. Yellingbo is a Wurundjeri word meaning Today, and my play Yellingbo explores how we create ourselves in the present from the materials of our past.

Dates: March 9 – 20, 2022
Venue: The new La Mama HQ, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton.
Bookings: www.trybooking.com/843503

Gabi Bergman

Gabi Bergman (she/her) is a Melbourne-based performer and educator, and the current Deputy Editor-in-Chief of AussieTheatre.com. She holds a double degree in Theatre Studies and Film/Screen Studies, along with a Master of Teaching (Secondary Education). A passionate advocate for inclusion and diversity in the arts, Gabi brings her deep love of storytelling to the stage, the page, and the classroom. A lifelong lover of theatre, she spends more on tickets than she’d like to admit. Her most prized possession is her ever-growing collection of theatre programs.