Yuyukatha: performance by Kutcha Edwards...

"MY first girlfriend's name was Sherrin. She was a red-head."
Kutcha Edwards' reference to football was one of the lighter moments of Yuyukatha, a night of story and song by Mutti Mutti man Kutcha Edwards.
Edwards was born by the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, one of 12 children. Yuyukatha tells the story of how the family was initially torn apart by welfare policies. Brothers and sisters were separated from each other and from their parents.
Edwards found some solace in football and was good enough to play a few games for St Kilda Under 19s. 'They called me Boomer back then. I kicked six goals in half a game against Carlton once.'
He played country footy down Traralgon way and also in Indigenous teams in Melbourne. In Yuyukatha he sings a song called Football's More Than Football, about how the game  helped him, and many Indigenous brothers, find meaning and solidarity in the face of persecution.
His line about a girlfriend called Sherrin is reminiscent of something singer Paul Kelly, a long-time colleague and admirer of Edwards, once said: 'First comes football, then comes sex. And then  love.'
Ultimately Kutcha Edwards' show is about love. He does not offer self-pity, he does not point the finger. He sings songs and tell stories about what happened to him and his family and to his mother in particular. Eloquence in the shadow of tragedy.
Yuyukatha ('to dream') was performed in Williamstown, Victoria in late June and is touring rural Victoria until 23 July.
More details: http://www.multiculturalarts.com.au/events2010/yuyukatha.shtml

•Photo by Nathan Miller & Mark Ferrie.

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