by Dylan Van Den Berg at La Boite until 8 November 2025
Whitefella Yella Tree is a poetic story of young love amidst fractures in civilisations. It’s a good story, one we’ve been waiting for. It’s part of truth-telling. But it’s more than that.
“Whitefella Yella Tree” opened in Brisbane at La Boite last night after a run at the Sydney Theatre Company. It travels to the University of Melbourne Arts and Culture from 13th to 15th November.
Set in the early days of European colonisation of Australia, the play is about two teenage boys who meet to exchange stories between the Mountain and the River peoples. They couldn’t be more different. Neddy (Danny Howard) is physical and impulsive. Ty (Joseph Althouse) is sensitive and scholarly. Yet they click and form a lifelong attachment.
Written by Dylan Van Den Berg, a Palama poet and a playwright, the scenes speak loudly about what is not on stage. The boys are teenage-foolish and are captivated by each other. They lean into each other for support and comfort. Outside, the whitefella is firstly infringing on their land, then destroying their way of life. Whitefellas kidnap Neddy’s much-loved sister. Whitefellas spread their disease and kill Ty’s much-loved aunt. The disease goes on to decimate all his people and, ultimately, him.
The Yella Tree is a foreign lemon tree grown to maturity during their lifetime and under which they, as messengers from their peoples, meet to share observations of the whitefella. The setting reflected the story. Set against country, the lemon tree ominously dictates the mood from above. It’s new and its fruit is bitter.
Danny Howard, playing Neddy, is from the Kimberley, with ties to the Barrd, Noongar, Yamatji, Bunubu and Ngadju Nations. His mum was in the audience last night. “It’s a good story”, she said.
Joseph “Wunujaka” Althouse, playing Ty, is Pertame and Tiwi man, working with the Sydney Theatre Company after a stint with Bell Shakespeare.
They brought innocence, determination, tenderness, danger and maturity to their roles.
Directed by Declan Greene and Amy Sole, the play was first staged by Griffin Theatre in 2022. The La Boite crew worked together to bring us a profoundly simple, yet complex story.
But this is not a story about long ago. My friend’s response: “This is exactly what is happening in my country, now.”
“Whitefella Yella Tree” is also about how “good people with the best of intentions” decimate others. It’s a story for all of us, in the here and now.
At La Boite until 8 November 2025.
https://laboite.com.au/
Photos by Prudence Upton
Kerry McGovern
