Future Ancestors
You don’t know it’s got you, until it’s got you! Future Ancestors must band together to free themselves from a toxic friend.
Presented by ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
Theatrical performance touring as part of the 2027 Creative Learning Program
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures | The Arts – Drama | Health and Physical Education | Personal and Social Capability | Ethical Capability | Intercultural Capability
You don’t know it’s got you, until it’s got you! Nicotine is a monster. It will snatch your mind and make you believe it’s your friend. How do you escape something if you don’t even know you’ve been trapped by it?
Lani and Zay, best friends and cousins—basically twins. Were both raised by their Nan who taught them how to use their voices through music. Sharing an unbreakable bond, Lani and Zay begin high school together where they meet Mya who is a vaper. Seeking her own identity outside of the twinship Lani is drawn into the world of vaping.
Problems arise when Lani and Mya become desperate to fund their habit. Zay grapples with loyalty and telling the truth.
Joined on their journey by Nan – who has never smoked and doesn’t understand why anyone ever would – and Pop Lee, Nan’s brother from another mother, famously a long-term smoker and a professional quitter. Pop Lee is battling the late stages of COPD/Emphysema.
Future Ancestors is a story built around young people feeling empowered to make positive choices about their health and wellbeing without shame or stigma.
Will Lani choose The Koori Way and give up her vape?
Can you force someone to quit?
In a thousand years from now, what will your descendants say about the life you lived?
Future Ancestors is a story about nicotine use among First Nations youth. Born from lived experiences shared by young people, their communities and Tackling Indigenous Smoking (TIS) health workers.
Throughout the play’s development feedback showed that Indigenous youth often look up to the older people in their lives. However, across generations there are different attitudes towards nicotine use that prevent young people from asking for help to quit. Navigating their social lives while accepting support to quit is a complex map of circumstances for young people. At an age where friendships are everything, fear, shame and stigma often hinder successful attempts at quitting.
Future Ancestors unpacks the complexities of nicotine use through character journeys, by demonstrating a spectrum of community attitudes that young people can use to reflect on their circumstances and make more informed choices.
Image by Joshua Scott
Other details
TAKING INTEREST ONLY
Minimum Venue requirements:
6m * 6m clear performance space, plus room for your audience
Flat floor with no fixed objects
A quiet space – not in the hallway or where people need to cross or walk past the performance space
Access to power
Access to Toilets/ changing rooms
Access to kitchen – to make a cuppa or pop some lunch in a fridge
We prefer indoors but may be able to accommodate some outside venues.
Smoke machine used in performance
About This Event
Presented by:Presented by ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
Art Form:First Nations
Theatre
Booking Details: Performance Duration: 60 minutes (Including Q&A)
Minimum Fee: School Booking Fee: $5000.00
INTERESTED? LET US KNOWSuitable for which years: Year 5, Year 6, Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10, Year 11, Year 12,
Terms Available: Term 3, Term 4,
Curriculum links:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, The Arts – Drama and Health and Physical Education
Capabilities: Personal and Social Capability, Ethical Capability and Intercultural Capability