City of Gold

This first play by Meyne Wyatt is a response to many of the events and losses in his own life and the effects they had on his family. All of this, in many ways, further stressed the feeling that his people – indigenous people from the Kalgoorlie region – are not treated equally. So the storyline goes. Breythe, who is employed doing racist, humiliating commercials in Sydney, returns to the city of gold on the death of his father who, by the way, continues to appear in his dreams. There he re–connects with his sister, brother and cousin in both grief and anger over the father’s death and other injustices in the city.

This was, in many ways, both a confronting and challenging presentation for the audience but good use of humour helped make for an entertaining and absorbing production. Unfortunately, the clarity of the happenings was somewhat lacking and could do with some modification. “The Sermon” was really over the top. The set was basically bare but for the house and this was very effective for the flow from location to location. The contrasting responses to the father’s death by the family member reflected society in many ways. That was well done.

Meyne Wyatt, the writer, was Breythe, the actor brother from Sydney, while Matthew Cooper was brother Mateo, the aggressive local brother, and they were both strong in their roles. A little clearer articulation would have helped at times. Outstanding was Shari Sebbens as the very effective Carina, the sister. Jeremy Ambrum as cousin Cliffhanger and Maitland Schnaars as Dad completed the family. Anthony Standish and Christopher Stollery both played several roles and completed a very strong cast. Well done overall to director Isaac Drandic.

The play achieved its objective for the most part in that it challenged the thinking of each member of the audience while still being entertaining. It caused us to think. For a first effort play, it was good but could be better with some fine tuning. Well done. I enjoyed it for the most part and I certainly recommend it to be seen during its run.

William Davies