OODGEROO - Bloodline to Country by Sam Watson

This engaging theatre piece is perhaps the best I have seen at La Boîte recently: well-developed script; evocative set; unconventional dramatic structure; and tightly directed.
The initial image is captivating: Stradbroke Island created in sand (Minjerribah – Oodgeroo’s homeland) surrounded by Moreton Bay, with the island reflected up the fourth wall.
The story unfolds in a series of pleated episodes of significant events:
Kath Walker was a poet, rights activist, pacifist, yet tenacious advocate for aboriginal equality and land rights. Frustrated, she returned her MBE and became Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal Tribe when the Hawke Government reneged on their election promise to support these issues.
Older son Denis, was equally committed to his mother’s causes. Along with playwright, Sam Watson and inspired by the 1960s USA freedom rides, they formed the Australian Black Panthers and established an Aboriginal Tent City on the lawns in front of Parliament House. Their aggressive approach worried Kath.
In a1969 plane hijack, Kath confronted terrorists holding a VIP German passenger hostage. As that sequence of events unfolds it parallels those depicting her tenacious advocacy of aboriginal land rights and equality. The eventual shooting of the hostage becomes a metaphor for the failure of her other struggles.
Kabul, shadowy spirit of Kath’s younger son Vivian, pervades the action.
Cast, Roxanne McDonald and Rhonda Purcell (older and younger Kath respectively), Darren Brady (Kabul), Simon Hapea, Jonathan Brand, and Emma Pursey (who cover multiple roles), all excelled.
Credit to author, dramaturg Ian Brown and director Sean Mee, what could so easily have become agitprop resulted in engrossing entertainment. A winner!

Jay McKee