This week, we’re bringing you our FINAL episode of Let’s Talk – The Arts for 2023, and I promise you, we’re going out on a high note. Join your host, Rachael Sarra, as she heads to QPAC to catch up with award-winning writer, director, and actress Leah Purcell. We meet Leah backstage at her brand new stage adaptation, Is That You, Ruthie? The play is based on Dr. Ruth Hegarty’s extraordinary book by the same title, as well as her second book, Buthalangi: A Maranoa Woman. In this incredible, warm, and rich conversation, Rachael learns a little about Leah’s long and vibrant career, on the stage, on screen, and as a writer, director and producer. We hear about the hard-earned lessons of a life on the stage: knowing when to push on and when to step back, and what it means to be true to yourself and your community as an artist.
From the foyer of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, after a sneak peak of the show in rehearsal, we learn a bit about Leah’s adaptation of Is that you, Ruthie? and her commitment to using creative tools for truth-telling and justice. And we end the year with some powerful reflections on the role of art and artists in bringing Blak history into the present; refusing colonial narratives, reclaiming agency, and telling the truth about this continent.
