CEMENT plants, industrial estates and the whiff of a half-eaten Chiko roll.
Most folk probably wouldn’t associate Cockburn with a Belle Époque, but in recent years it has shed its sprawling industrial image and emerged as something of an indie darling.
Side Splitter Comedy Festival, Show Off, and Makuru Arts Festival are just some of the events that have helped boost Cockburn’s arty credentials and left Freo looking over its ragged shoulder at what could have been.
And that’s on top of Cockburn poaching the Dockers women’s team from Fremantle Oval. But that’s a story for another time.
After a successful debut last year, Cockburn’s community arts festival Makuru is back with an even bigger and more ambitious line-up.
• (above) Adam Kelly is performing at Makuru Arts Festival. photo Cameron Park
Deftly balancing grassroots arts and entertainment, there’s everything from a world music cafe and baroque concert to improv RPG and a kids’ arts day.
The vast majority of the events are family friendly and interactive, making this festival a real community affair.
Makuru shines a light on groups like the Blue Joy Theatre Company, which might slip under the radar at more commercial events. They’re doing a live table-read, Echoes in Draft, where the audience gets to hear four playwrights test drive their latest works.
“There’s a tale of an imaginative young boy coping with his family’s intercontinental migrations, a story of a couple kidnapping their newlywed friends so they can learn how to be in the perfect relationship, a piece that begins with a mysterious person—transgender in nature—falling out of the sky, and a play about a young man in 17th-century Salem who befriends a woman suspected of being a witch,” says Anja Starkiss, production coordinator at Blue Joy Theatre.
The company was founded by Mohammed ‘Ayo Busari’ in 2025.
“It was born out of a desire to create space for underrepresented voices, foster cultural exchange and challenge conventional narratives in Perth’s theatre and performance industry,” Starkiss says.
As part of this year’s Fringe World, their New Beginnings program engaged four artists to create new live performance work.
“A 10-minute snippet of each work was presented at Subiaco Arts Centre in February, drawing a massive crowd of community supporters, fellow artists, and new audiences,” Starkiss says.
“Seeing it all play out cemented our commitment to providing more opportunities for underrepresented artists to present works in progress, and to have space to develop something new.”
Another highlight of Makuru is Sunday Arvo Music – Songwriters Circle with Helen Shanahan, Emily Barker, Billie Rogers and Carla Geneve. Inspired by Nashville’s Bluebird Café, musos share a circle of songs and stories.
There’s plenty for the little ones too with a new show from Sensorium Theatre, Snuggleplay, and a SPARK Arts Day with hands-on puppetry, circus, dance and music for primary school-age kids.
If you need an escape from all those noisy children, head to Australian Baroque – Mindful Music, a chill-out collaboration with the School of Practical Philosophy.
And people excited about the new season of House of the Dragon will no doubt be flocking to the live improv show of Dungeons and Dragons.
The Makuru Arts Festival is on from June 5-27. For more info see cockburn.wa.gov.au.
by STEPHEN POLLOCK