Andrew Ross Obituary: What did the Black Swan’s founding artistic director Andrew Ross die off?

Andrew Ross AM, the director of the landmark musical Bran Nue Dae and co-founder of the Black Swan State Theatre Company in Western Australia, leaves an indelible mark on the national stage.
Ross passed away on March 19th, early in the morning, after a long battle with cancer. He was 74 years old at the time.

Over a five-decade career, the award-winning director and educator have been a driving force in bringing the stories of First Nations people to mainstream theatre audiences.

He is credited with founding, not just one, but two WA theatre companies, the first of which was Black Swan (BSSTC), and the second of which was Barking Gecko Theatre, a children’s theatre company. His encouragement and promotion of First Nations writers, actors, and directors paved the way for others to follow.

Ross, who was born in Melbourne in 1947, left the city’s thriving independent theatre scene in 1976 to work as the National Theatre’s youth director at the now-demolished Playhouse Theatre in Pier Street