Yamatji and Noongar actor Mark Nannup stands quietly beside a beautiful waterhole in Victoria's Wimmera Region.
It's tranquil and still as he tosses a handful of sand from the water's edge.
"I was just letting Johnny Mullagh know that we're here," he explains.
The waterhole holds a special story - as the place where Australia's first Aboriginal cricketing star Johnny Mullagh spent the final years of his life.
Now, more than 150 years on, Mark Nannup is helping to revive the legend of the Jardwadjali man, known to his community as Unaarrimin.
Mr Nannup plays the role of Johnny Mullagh in the theatrical play Black Cockatoo, which tells the story of Australia's first international cricketing team, the first XI, which toured England in the 1860s.
The play is touring Australia, but has returned to Harrow for a special performance.
Black Cockatoo actors Colin Smith, Mema Munro, Kyle Shilling, Mark Nannup, Phoebe Grainer and Joseph Althouse in Harrow. Source: NITV The Point (Keira Jenkins)
"Johnny's ancestral spirits live in this water, that's why it never goes dry," the actor tells NITV's The Point.
"Throwing sand into the water lets them know that I'm here and my intention to ask for safe travels.
"It's a surreal feeling to be here on someone's Country and telling their story, knowing that they ate, lived and slept here."
The whole all-Indigenous cast feels the weight of responsibility in telling the story of Australia's First XI.
Colin Smith plays two roles, including Charles Lawrence, the team's white captain.
"Being on Johnny Mullagh's ground, it's filling us with a sense of awe, a sense of duty as well, that we present his story with the respect and the gravity that this tale really brings."
A statue of Unaarimin, also known as Johnny Mullagh at the Harrow Discovery Centre. Source: Harrow Discovery Centre
Not just a brilliant player
Black Cockatoo is directed by Wesley Enoch, who explains it's about much more than a brilliant cricket player.
"We love to tell the stories of their abilities as sportspeople but they were also a curiosity for lots of the English at the time too so there’s also a dark edge to it around the racism of the period, the lack of control for Aboriginal people about their futures," Mr Enoch says.
"Even when the team comes back ... the community was moved down to Ebenezer Mission and Lake Condah and ...communities were pulled apart."
He says it was important the story return to Wudjubuluk Country, where it all began.
"When we’re telling stories it’s good to come back to Country, it’s good to make sure these stories get heard by the landscape that we’re in, that the trees get to hear the stories and that the locals get to celebrate their connection, in this case, to the Johnny Mullagh story," Mr Enoch says.
"Like we’ve done for millennia, the telling of story over and over again is healing for our Country, is healing for our people.
"This story gives us healing, gives us power and also helps us imagine what the future could be."
Story's "Ground zero" Mark Nannup says the performance in the tiny town of Harrow will be one of the most important he delivers in the role.
The all-Indigenous cast of Black Cockatoo brings the story of Johnny Mullagh back to Harrow. Source: NITV The Point (Keira Jenkins)
"This is ground zero for this play, where it happened, where it came from and everyone in the town is so excited about this character and the story being told, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal," the Yamitji, Noongar actor says.
"I hope that the families that do get to watch it, that are descendants from the tribes from this area, my ultimate goal is to make them very proud because it is for them, to embody their ancestor, to showcase that to them, to make them proud."
For more, tune into NITV's The Point, Tuesday 7.30pm, or catch up later on SBS or SBS On Demand.
