Yellingbo
Yellingbo is a powerful, edge of your seat drama dealing compassionately with the complex issues surrounding seeking asylum."
La Mama Theatre is pleased to present Yellingbo, a fresh, ingenious and darkly witty drama from acclaimed local playwright, Tee O’Neill, (BARASSI The Stage Show) about the vulnerability of asylum seekers in Australia, set in an ordinary living room where all appears ordinary… until it isn’t.
Yellingbo poses burning questions about love and responsibility. 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 fast twists and turns that will keep you riveted, Yellingbo is inspired by the playwright’s experience working and living with 32 asylum seekers.
This one act play for three actors has been adapted from the playwright’s highly regarded play Best Possible World, which was short listed for the Patrick White Award, the Corkadorka Award in Ireland, The Rodney Seaborne Award and won the Siena College International Play Award. The play also represented Australia in the Hot Ink International Play Festival in New York.
Director Karen Berger and playwright Tee O’Neill were Playwriting Australia funding to develop Yellingbo for this La Mama season in March 2022.
Yellingbo features an impressive ensemble comprised of Jude Beaumont (Click Bait), Fiona Macleod (Offspring) and Jeremy Stanford (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Jack Irish).
Playwright Tee O'Neill, inspired by personal experience, has given us a beautifully constructed text, with careful attention to set-ups and credible payoffs."
Love triangle with a twist: Yellingbo will have you on the edge of your seat.”
Tickets are SOLD OUT, but you can still join the livestream on Friday 18th March at 7.30pm.
For an interview with Tee O'Neill, click the link below
In this interview with Melbourne’s JOY FM Sunday Arts Magazine program, Tee discusses the path that led her to playwriting, the role of the playwright in rehearsal, the inspiration for Yellingbo – linked to a startling incident in her own life – and she gives hints about the intrigue driving the play.
Date: Feb 20, 2022
Listening time: 15 mins, 34 secs.
