2025 - Imigo by Jacob Boehme - Yellamundie Festival
Imigo is a theatre concert, which tells the life story of Michelle Tobin; HIV+ Yorta Yorta mother, grandmother, advocate and convenor of the Positive Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Network.
Written and directed by Jacob Boehme, as told by Michelle Tobin and composed and sung by Ursula Yovich, Imigo reveals the stark truth behind living as an HIV+ Aboriginal woman in Australia. Aboriginal women in Australia are still the demographic at highest risk of being diagnosed HIV+.
As Michelle faces multiple health struggles, she embarks on a quest of forgiveness and understanding to heal the relationships and scars left from a life of fighting against all odds; to be a bride, a mother, a grandmother and to stay alive. A life that Michelle has always lived, even with all its disappointments and complications, with imigo (hope; Yorta Yorta).
Jacob Boehme is a Narungga and Kaurna writer and theatre maker, creating work for stage, screen, large scale public events and festivals for over two decades. Jacob has led the artistic direction of Tanderrum (Melbourne Festival); Thuwathu (Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair); The Original People’s Party (Australian Performing Arts Market) and Geelong After Dark. Jacob is the writer and performer of Blood on the Dance Floor (ILBIJERRI Theatre Company), writer and director of Guuranda (Adelaide Festival) and Wild Dog (Art Gallery of South Australia/Country Arts SA).
