Dear Son

Thomas Mayo, Isaac Drandic & John Harvey

Blak dads, Blak sons,
Blak grandfathers,
Blak love.

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Description

Belvoir St Theatre, Queensland Theatre & State Theatre Company South Australia

The theatrical production of Thomas Mayo’s groundbreaking Dear Son comes to Sydney Festival.  Mayo invited twelve renowned Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, including Stan Grant, Troy Cassar-Daley and John Liddle, to write a letter to their father or son for his eponymous book.   

The moving collection honours the rich traditions and wisdoms of fathers of the world’s oldest living culture, dispelling stereotypes and celebrating masculinity as they know it.  

Now, deadly theatre-makers Isaac Drandic (37, Dear Brother) and John Harvey (Spear, Black Ties) bring those intimate, powerful reflections to the stage, through music, dance and story.   

The original cast of Dear Son featured beloved actors Jimi Bani (Othello, My Name is Jimi), Waangenga Blanco (37, Patyegarang), Trevor Jamieson (The Secret River, Storm Boy), Kirk Page (Black Diggers, Redfern Now) and Aaron Pedersen (Cost of Living, Mystery Road). 

Stick around for a post-show talk hosted by Jake Nash after the 13 January performance of Dear Son.

★★★★½ “Beautifully realised and lovingly delivered”

ARTS HUB

Theatre First Nations / Blak Out

Isaac Drandic

Australia

Director and Co-Adaptor Queensland Theatre: Dear Brother, 37 (with Melbourne Theatre Company), At What Cost? (with Belvoir St Theatre), City of Gold (with Griffin Theatre Company). Other Credits: As Director: Victorian Opera, The Visitors, JUTE Theatre: From Campfire to Stage Light, Performing Lines: Hide the Dog, The Season, La Boite Theatre: From Darkness, Bigger and Blacker, ILBIJERRI Theatre Company/Belvoir: Coranderrk, ILBIJERRI Theatre Company/Arts House: Blood on the Dance Floor, Archie Roach Foundation: Into the Bloodstream. Positions: Head of First Nations Theatre (Current Position), Associate Artistic Director, Resident Dramaturg, Associate Artist, Queensland Theatre, Associate Director, ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, Resident Artist, Playwrighting Australia. Isaac is a Noongar man. Awards: 2025 Matilda Awards – Best Direction and Best Mainstage Production 37, 2018 Green Room Awards – Best Direction and Best Mainstage Production The Season.

John Harvey

Australia

Co-Adaptor Queensland Theatre: Debut. Other Credits: As Writer: Malthouse Theatre: The Return, Heart is a Wasteland (with Ilbijerri Theatre – National Tour); As Co-Writer: Ilbijerri Theatre: Black Ties; As Director: Orana Arts: A Little Piece of Heaven (with Yirramboi Arts Festival). Film: As Director & Writer: Still We Rise; Water (ABC); Out of Range (SBS). As Director, Co-Writer & Producer: Off Country; As Director & Co-Writer: Katele (Mudskipper); As Producer: Spear (Toronto International Film Festival); Sand (The Turning) (Berlinale); The Warriors (ABC). Commissions: Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI): Canopy (multi-channel installation; adapted into a large-scale mural – Melbourne Metro); As Video Component Producer: Ricardo Idagi: Upi Mop Le. Positions: Creative Director, Brown Cabs; Writers Residencies: Malthouse Theatre and Footscray Arts; 2024 Inaugural First Nations Writers Residency, New York City and Boston; Board Member, Bangarra Dance Theatre. Awards: Victorian Premier’s Literary Award The Return; AIDC & ADG Best Documentary Awards Still We Rise; ADG Best Documentary Award Off Country (As Co-Director); FlickerFest & Melbourne International Film Festival - Best Australian Short Awards Katele (Mudskipper) (As Co-Writer); 2023 Sidney Myer Creative Fellow recipient.