From Sydney Opera House to Northern Stage: powerful Indigenous dance production finally arrives in the North East

A critically acclaimed dance production exploring the trauma of Australia's Stolen Generations is to receive its UK premiere here in the North East this month – more than six years after it was first planned for the region.

The Other Side of Me, a collaboration between Northumbria University and the Gary Lang NT Dance Company, will arrive at Northern Stage on 20 May following a seven-venue Australian East Coast tour that concludes with a four-day run at the Sydney Opera House.

The Newcastle performance carries profound significance on two counts. The production was originally due to be staged in the city back in 2020 but had to be cancelled when the Covid-19 pandemic brought live performance to a standstill.

It also holds particular meaning following the death in 2024 of award-winning writer and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Northumbria University Dr Laura Fish, who was the originator and driving force behind the project.

It was Dr Fish who first forged the human connection at the heart of the production, exchanging letters with a young Aboriginal man who shared his profound struggle to come to terms with his Indigenous Australian origins.

Laura’s lifelong commitment to challenging injustices, and her belief in the power of storytelling to give voice to the marginalised, gave the production its emotional core. After many years developing the project, in 2017 she invited her Northumbria colleague Liz Pavey to collaborate with her on this endeavour.

The Other Side of Me tells a story of the Stolen Generations – under the Australian Government's policy of forcibly separating Indigenous children from their parents, a young man is removed from his family, adopted and brought to the UK, cut off from his culture and community, never to return to his homeland. This powerful narrative poses raw questions about identity, belonging, displacement and the lasting wounds of colonialism.

By combining contemporary and First Nations dance, physical theatre and literature, the production translates this story into an intimate dance duet performed by two male dancers representing two sides of the same man – the British side he knows and the Indigenous side he longs to connect with. 

The performance, which is produced by First Nations-led organisation BlakDance, has drawn international critical acclaim since its world premiere at the Darwin Festival in 2023.

Since then, it has toured Western and Central Australia, featured at The Australian Ballet’s DanceX Festival in Melbourne, and embarked on its acclaimed 2026 East Coast Australian tour, which culminates at the Sydney Opera House before travelling to the UK.

Liz Pavey, Assistant Professor at Northumbria University and co-creator of the production, said: “It is a joy that The Other Side of Me is finally coming to the North East after all this time. This is such an important story, and we are so excited that North East audiences can finally connect with it – I know they will be moved, challenged, and in awe of the choreography. It raises profound questions about colonialism and belonging that resonate far beyond Australia.

“This is also a wonderful moment of international recognition for Gary and his extraordinary artistry. And of course, it is a tribute to Laura – a chance for all those who knew her to remember the incredible cultural impact she had on creative writing, on this region, and well beyond.”

Gary Lang, the choreographer of this piece and Artistic Director of Gary Lang NT Dance Company, said: “While this work was inspired by a specific and gut-wrenching story about the loss of a Blak boy’s identity, the exploration is about the many ‘what if’ moments we can all recognise in our lives. The Other Side of Me is about the prison that everyone has in their own minds – how we keep ourselves behind bars and how we try to find our own freedom.”

Following the Newcastle performance, the production will be performed at Dance North Scotland’s RISE 2026 dance festival, an annual festival of contemporary dance and performance, taking place from Saturday 23 May to Saturday 6 June 2026 across Caithness, Inverness and Findhorn and Glasgow.

The Other Side of Me will be performed at Northern Stage, Newcastle, on Wednesday 20 May 2026. Tickets available here.