The history of Aboriginal playwriting begins here, with a compendious piece chronicling the theft of the indigenous Australians' country. It was written by Kevin Gilbert in 1968, while serving a 14-year prison sentence in one of Australia's harshest jails. You might expect it to be bitter. It's not.
Moodgee, as Gilbert was known, was less interested in reprisals than reconstruction. The Cherry Pickers is a deeply philosophical piece that attempts to formulate a way of reconciling native tradition with the reality of modern life. It oozes optimism under the most crushing circumstances, but Gilbert's favourite saying was that "you sharpen your axe on the hardest stone".
Gilbert sharpened his axe in the most unconventional way, and his play follows no logic but its own. The narrative is a rich stew of creation myths, tribal ritual, political oratory, dirty jokes, terrific songs and interminable hanging about. Indeed, it is the hanging about that forms the heart of the play.
Gilbert structures the work around a group of indigenous Australians condemned to wander the margins of their own continent in pursuit of whatever work they can find. They have set up camp to wait for the commencement of the cherry-picking season, traditionally marked by the largest cherry tree bearing fruit, and the arrival of Johnollo, a talismanic figure who evidently shares Godot's sense of punctuality. In the meantime, they tell stories, sing songs and keep the audience royally entertained for the play's 90-minute duration.
Gilbert refused to license the piece for production until it could be performed by an all-Aboriginal troupe, which did not occur until a year after his death in 1993. This is the second production, and the European premiere. It is presented by the Sydney theatre company, one of the world's great ensembles, whose all-Aboriginal members can flip between serious rhetoric and scabrous humour in an instant. It is less like going to the theatre than having fun around a campfire, even while you are made to recognise that it is your host's future that is going up in smoke.
· Until Saturday. Box office: 0161-236 7110. Then tours to Brighton, Salisbury, Exeter and Nottingham.
