FIFO — Fit In or F**k Off!
JONO: ‘Sometimes it feels like…’ [Pause]. ‘I don’t fit in at home! I’m tryin’ to juggle two worlds here and if you don’t tell me things, it gets easier and easier to keep my life at camp separate to my life at home.’
FIFO – Fit In or F**k Off! explores the challenges fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers and their families face, including the disconnect to family and friends, feelings of displacement, isolation, and the ever-present drug culture. The play follows two families, Jono, Mary and Janey, whose lives have been impacted by mining. Playwright Melody Dia weaves a confronting and visceral story as problems escalate, hit a turning point and explode – with secrets coming out.
FIFO – Fit In or F**k Off! is filled with wry humour, turbulent emotions and unflinching truths. This powerhouse of a play will leave the reader on the edge of their seat asking, ‘is it worth it?’
Melody Dia is a proud Nyul Nyul woman born and raised in Broome, Western Australia. She has a mixed heritage of Indonesian, Indian and European – a typical reflection of Broome’s pearling history. After watching the stage play Bran Nue Dae as a young girl and discovering Shakespeare in high school, Melody developed an avid interest in the written word, writing and performance poetry. She is now a popular fixture at the Broome’s Corrugated Lines Writer’s Festival Spoken Word Event.
Melody has worked in pubs/kitchens, classrooms, mine sites and offices. Her current job in aged care regularly takes her across the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Melody has been a participant of the Goolarri Writer’s program since 2014 where she began writing FIFO – Fit In or F**k Off!, which was selected for the 2019 Yellamundie First Nations Play Festival as part of the Sydney International Arts Festival, directed by Rachel Maza. It went on to be co-produced by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company and Goolarri Media, premiering in October 2020.
Melody is currently working on her second play.
