North of Thursday...

The islands of the Torres Strait (including Thursday Island), emerge out of the water beyond the tip of Australia's northern point. This is a tropical paradise where time is slow, the water is warm and the foilage is lush.

About the Plays


Synopsis

The Kasa Por Yarn (Just for a story) project was devised by Queensland Health as part of a multi-pronged strategy to develop and promote positive health messages for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in northern Queensland. Kasa Por Yarn was a 12-part radio play broadcast throughout the Torres Strait. Input from the local community was an integral component of the project, and Kasa Por Yarn was very fortunate to have Aaron Fa'aoso on board in the role of cultural consultant and artistic advisor.



Production History

A workshop was held on Thursday Island in June 2009. The script was subsequently developed with input coming from communities on Thursday Island and in the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) including those in Injinu, Seisia and Bamaga, as well as cultural and creative consultant Aaron Fa'aoso and Queensland Health professionals.

Auditons subsequently took place in the NPA and on Thursday Island, and recording took place on Thursday Island in November 2009, with sound engineer Nigel Pegrum. Nigel then edited the plays in his Pegasus Studio facility in Cairns.

The plays were launched on Thursday 15 April 2010 and subsequently broadcast on radio station 4MW on Thursday Island.

Kasa Por Yarn has a large following on Facebook, and also has its own webpage where you can download episodes of the play.



Recording


Aaron Fa'aoso and Tullei Eli


Jimi Bani (standing) and Aaron Fa'aoso


Aaron Fa'aoso and Jimi Bani





Videos

Several videos of the characters talking to camera have also been posted on You Tube. You can view them from the following links:



TV news article


Jayson


Harry


Peter


Elise


Lindy


Gretel


Cindy


Billy


The Making Of Kasa Por Yarn





Images

Trip 1: Initial Workshop


Kids on the beach. This and the following photographs were taken during my first visit to the island in June 2009.


Aaron Fa'aoso


Tinny


Tree trunk


Sunrise


Looking north


Termite mound


Tree


Main street


Leaf


Flotsam, or possibly jetsam


Flowers



Trip 2: Auditions and Recording


Tropical foilage


Tropical foilage


Tropical foilage


Tropical foilage


Tropical foilage


Northern most point of Australia, Cape York


Tropical sunset


Tropical sunset


Tropical sunset


Auditions at Injinu Health Centre, Cape York


Rhiann Phineasa as Elise and Tullei Eli as Lindy


Mary Mills as Gretel


Maudesta Bowie as Cindy


Aaron Fa'aoso as Billy and Jimmy Bani as Harry


Charles Passi as Peter, Mary Mills as Gretel, Rhiann Phineasa as Elise and Aaron Fa'aoso as Billy


Aaron Fa'aoso as Billy and Maudesta Bowie as Cindy


Patrick Mau (composer) and Aaron Fa'aoso


Rhiann Phineasa as Elise, Danny Bani as Jayson and Tullei Eli as Lindy


Simon Luckhurst, Heather Robertson (producer) and Aaron Fa'aoso


Charles Passi, Simon Luckhurst, Aaron Fa'aoso, Heather Robertson and Jimmy Bani


Entire cast


Nigel Pegrum in his studio