As we enter a year when Australians will probably vote in a referendum on a constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice to parliament, Sydney Festival’s first creative artist-in-residence, Jacob Nash, wants us to listen to many Indigenous perspectives.

As co-ordinator of the festival’s Blak Out program, the head designer at Bangarra Dance Theatre and Daly River man has assembled myriad First Nations voices from across the country for Sydney Festival 2023.

There’s Heartbreak High heart-throb Thomas Weatherall, the 22-year-old Kamilaroi writer and actor whose debut play Blue, written while he was the Balnaves fellow at Belvoir Theatre, will be performed at that theatre from January 14.

“Thomas’s voice has a magical quality – he’s written an amazing script about family and love,” Nash said.

There’s also Daniel Riley, whose story of his great-great-uncle, famed Wiradjuri tracker Alec Riley, will have its world premiere at Carriageworks with the Australian Dance Theatre’s show Tracker (January 10-14).

Weaving together dance, music and text, with an all-First Nations cast and set by Indigenous artist Jonathan Jones, Tracker tells the story of the Dubbo man born in 1884 who joined the NSW police force in 1911 and became the first Indigenous sergeant in the state, helping track down bushrangers and serial killers.

“Dan’s great-great-uncle is one of those stories in our history we should talk about like we do Bennelong’s,” Nash said. “This is hybrid dance and storytelling.”

Then there’s the distinctive voice of actress/singer/songwriter Elaine Crombie, who starred in last year’s Bangarra hit Wudjang: Not the past. This year she delivers Janet’s Vagrant Love at Belvoir St Theatre, featuring her original songs about a single mum raising boys. “This is a chance to sit down and hear her story,” Nash said of the Pitjantjatjara woman.