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Questions of identity, belonging and cultural responsibility take centre stage in Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company’s powerful new production, At What Cost?, making its Western Australian premiere this month.
Written by acclaimed Tasmanian playwright Nathan Maynard, At What Cost? is a bold and thought-provoking work that tackles one of the most complex and sensitive conversations taking place in contemporary Australia.
Set in Putalina, also known as Oyster Cove in Tasmania, the play follows Boyd Mansell, a respected Palawa man carrying the weight of responsibility to his family, community and Country. As he prepares for the arrival of his first child and works to bring an ancestor home, Boyd finds himself confronting a growing number of people claiming Palawa identity. Some questions are familiar. Others are far more challenging. Who belongs? Who decides? And what responsibilities come with identity?
Cast Jessie Ward and Calen Tassone during At What Cost? rehearsals. Photo Daniel J Grant.
At What Cost? had sellout seasons at Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre in 2022 & 2023 and toured to Queensland and South Australia. Yirra Yaakin’s very own production of this bold, unflinching play is directed by Maitland Schnaars, one of Western Australia’s leading Indigenous theatre-makers and artistic director of the company.
Schnaars describes the production as both timely and necessary, praising Maynard’s honest and uncompromising approach to storytelling.
“This is a story about identity, but it’s also about responsibility to culture, to community and to truth,” Schnaars says. “It challenges us to sit with discomfort and really listen.”
The production brings together an impressive cast led by Calen Tassone as Boyd Mansell and Jessie Ward as his pregnant wife Nala. They are joined by Jarrad Inman as Boyd’s cousin Daniel and recent WAAPA graduate Aimee Honor, making her professional theatre debut as researcher Gracie Ranson.
Maynard, a Trawlwoolway man from Tasmania, has established himself as one of Australia’s most respected First Nations storytellers. His award-winning work spans theatre, film, television and visual arts, with productions performed on some of the country’s most prestigious stages.
For more than 30 years, Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company has been telling powerful First Nations stories, commissioning new works and supporting generations of Aboriginal artists. At What Cost? continues that tradition, offering audiences an opportunity to engage with an important conversation through compelling storytelling and outstanding performances.
Challenging, moving and deeply relevant, At What Cost? is theatre that asks audiences not only to listen, but to reflect on their own place within the conversation.
At What Cost?
Subiaco Arts Centre
17 July – 1 August
yirrayaakin.com.au