Wayne Freer, musician, was hired to work with Theona to put musical backing to the melodies she created for the telling of the story.  Wayne was impressed by the strength of the material and intrigued by the mysterious process that led to the genesis of the project. As Theona explained, she had begun by dancing and singing at the site and the play took shape over time as she listened to the voices of the land and her ancestors. The words and the songs came to her in dreams.  Wayne was struck by how readily her song lines translated into chords on keyboard and guitar; there was something in these creations that rang deeply true for him.

Theona, a singer/songwriter of 30 years and recently a published poet, has been working with Wayne, Peter Docker and Bruce Denny to develop her script and music for the black opera Murla-na Bula Wula Bulangu (now known as Thunbiji) The opera is a re-telling of the 1854 massacre of Naaguja people at Pelican Springs, south of Geraldton near the mouth of the Greenough River.

Peter and Bruce met Theona through the Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company; a Noongar-led Theatre Company based in Perth, and both have been involved in the shaping of the play for some time. Bruce Denny is an actor and director with many years of strong operational skills in theatre. His role is to guide the team and bring all aspects of the opera together. Peter Docker, a non-indigenous actor/director with a lot of experience working in black theatre, was there to lend his writing and acting skills.

After the workshop, Peter described Theona’s songs as ‘the backbone of the production’. In his experiences with Aboriginal storytellers, this is a case where the old people are speaking directly through Theona – resulting in powerful and true work..

Reuben, choreographer and artist, was hired to draw the best from the dancers and for his skill in choreographing stage fights. For a big fella, Reuben – Peter said – ‘moves like water flowing’.  He is a martial artist expert and has received some big public art commissions in Perth – a young man to be reckoned with.

The working party arrived in Geraldton for a creative development intensive. By Friday 28 November, with 4 days of work behind them, the Naaguja-style opera was starting to take shape and invited guests arrived for the reading.  At this stage, the Wedge, a building on the Marina run by the Western Australian Museum Geraldton, had a lived-in feeling, with musical instruments, scripts, urns and mugs evidence of days of creative work.