The Sydney Theatre Company has issued a statement, on behalf of the family of Ningali Lawford-Wolf, to confirm that the Kimberley-born Wangkatjungka actor died in Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday August 11, while touring in the STC’s production of The Secret River.

Ningali Lawford-Wolf in The Secret River at the Edinburgh International Festival. Photograph © Ryan Buchanan Photography

Two days ago it was reported that two performances of the production – which has been playing at the Edinburgh International Festival before a season at London’s National Theatre from August 22 – September 7  –  had been cancelled due to her serious illness.

Lawford-Wolf, who was playing the show’s narrator Dhirrumbin, had won a rapturous response from critics, in a slew of four and five-star reviews of the production. The actor had been involved in the development of the play, which was adapted by Andrew Bovell from Kate Grenville’s novel of the same name. Directed by Neil Armfield, The Secret River received its world premiere in Sydney in 2013. Lawford-Wolf played the narrator in the return Sydney season in 2016 and national tour, as well as performing in the production when it was staged outdoors at the...