Meyne Wyatt in City of Gold. Photo: Rene Vaile Download images

12 April 2022

Following a proud and emotional homecoming season in Western Australia, writer, performer and Wongutha-Yamatji man Meyne Wyatt is bringing his acclaimed play City of Gold to Sydney Theatre Company from May 7 in an electrifying new production directed by STC Resident Director, Shari Sebbens.

Inspired in part by Wyatt’s own experiences, City of Gold is a brutal, nuanced and moving portrayal of one family desperately working to break cycles of discrimination and a gripping piece of First Nations drama.

Described during its Perth Festival run earlier this year as “an exceptional piece of theatre that erupts with incisive dialogue” (SeeSaw Magazine), this co-production between STC and Black Swan State Theatre Company stars Wyatt himself alongside Mathew Cooper, St John Cowcher, Simone Detourbet, Myles Pollard, Trevor Ryan and STC’s 2022 Richard Wherrett Fellow Ian Michael. 

Wyatt, whose acting credits include Preppers, The Sapphires, Redfern Now and Mystery Road, came to national attention in 2020 when he performed a passionate monologue from City of Gold on ABC’s Q&A. Wyatt says that, while the world has changed significantly since then, it has also barely changed in relation to the themes at the heart of the show. 

“In 2020, the #BlackLivesMatter movement went global after the murder of George Floyd, which brought a new focus to the Black deaths in custody here in this country,” Wyatt said. “Only eight months before that, Aboriginal teen Kumanjayi Walker was shot and killed by a white police officer, and just recently that cop got off. There are now 500+ Aboriginal deaths in custody and not one conviction for any of the people responsible for any of those deaths. My play talks about and depicts the injustice of it all. So, we rage on!”

Sebbens said she was absolutely “obsessed” with this cast and this production.

“We are so excited to bring City of Gold back to Sydney after an emotional and proud homecoming season in Perth,” Sebbens said. “It’s been one of the great honours in my creative life to work with a cast of almost entirely First Nations artists on bringing this compelling story of Meyne’s to the stage. Their energy is unstoppable as they roar and rage through this story.”

City of Gold follows Breythe who is slogging it out on the East Coast, building an acting career and trying to balance the road to success with honouring his heritage as a Wongutha-Yamatji man. When he’s called back to Kalgoorlie to mourn his father’s tragic death, he discovers a family reeling in pain and anger and a home he feels increasingly estranged from. It is a gripping and innovative mixture of uninhibited truth-telling, social satire, and heartbreaking realism. 

Media Enquiries:
Helene Fox, PR Manager (02) 9250 1705 hfox@sydneytheatre.com.au
Emily Ritchie, Publicist (02) 9250 1703 eritchie@sydneytheatre.com.au

Notes to Editors

Director Shari Sebbens
Designer Tyler Hill
Lighting Designer Verity Hampson
Composer & Sound Designer Rachael Dease
Design Cosultant Zoë Atkinson
Assistant Director Daley Rangi

With 
Mathew Cooper, St John Cowcher, Simone Detourbet, Ian Michael, Myles Pollard, Trevor Ryan, Meyne Wyatt

Box Office: (02) 9250 1777
More info: https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2022/city-of-gold
Plan your visit: https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/your-visit/the-wharf-theatres

City of Gold is a co-production between Sydney Theatre Company and Black Swan State Theatre Company of WA.