Bougainville Photoplay Project

DEVISED BY PAUL DWYER, PRODUCED BY VERSION 1.0 

An intimate performance that highlights the moral and ethical commitments binding Australians and the people of Bougainville (PNG) in the wake of a brutal civil war.

Writer, academic and performer Paul Dwyer retraces three journeys made by his father, Dr Allan Dwyer, a world-renowned orthopaedic surgeon, who visited Bougainville during the 1960s, healing dozens of crippled children. Family stories become entwined with the larger narrative of Australia’s colonial enterprise in the years following: the opening of the giant Panguna copper mine, environmental devastation and Bougainvillean resistance, a war that cost the lives of up to 20,000 people.

Since 2004, Paul Dwyer has been making his own journeys to Bougainville, conducting research on the post war reconciliation process and following the impact of those encounters between his father and the Bougainvillean children.

This one-man performance is politics and performance at its most personal.

“... Dwyer weaves personal stories, historical documentary and ethnographic academic research into a performance that is never predictable, unfolding intimate reflections that quietly impart their deeper connections…” RealTime

“Dwyer is a likable and intelligent performer, unafraid of weaving the entertaining with the academic, the performative with the factual and the personal with the political. [...] a fascinating piece of theatre. [...] one of the most entertaining lectures you’re likely to see in a long time.” Kate Britton, City Hub

'I smiled, I laughed, I was educated, I was provoked, I was moved. I was, ultimately, inspired.' Kevin Jackson Theatre Reviews

“The way Dwyer has shaped this experience into a work for the stage is hugely impressive. A combo of boy’s own adventure, academic research, political act and theatre-making experiment, The Bougainville Photoplay Project does what one ultimately looks for in the making of the best art. It succeeds in realising its goals. That those ambitions are high and complex are artfully disguised (but not missed) as we are drawn into the event by Dwyer’s easy-going, self-deprecating manner. His touch is as light as his themes are serious. A powerful story – beautifully told.” James Waites, jameswaites.com