My Urrwai

Ghenoa Gela is funny, friendly and fierce in My Urrwai. The show intersperses storytelling with contemporary and traditional dance, comedy, poetry and song. It’s a powerfully moving exploration of the impacts of colonialism on first nations people.

Ghenoa takes you on the journey through retelling her own experiences as a mainland born Torres Strait Islander woman. She reflects on pivotal childhood memories and current day experiences that have shaped her feelings about her culture. Her stories move you to laugh and cry as she literally puts audience members in her shoes, heightening the empathy for everyone in the room.

The aching, heavy stone you feel in the pit of your stomach as Ghenoa recalls her experience of police harassment is horrific. The soaring joy you feel, as she recalls the time she had the honour of performing her ancestral dance on the lands her family had danced upon for generations before her, is a tonic. The sheer relief you feel when she tells of her family’s love and support of her, despite her making some life choices that challenge their cultural and religious beliefs is heart-warming.

When it comes to her skill, there’s no questioning Ghenoa’s talent. She has beautiful articulation and technique when acting. Her storytelling skills are warm, welcoming and down to earth. She has great comic timing and lands all her jokes. Her dance skills are outstanding. She sings beautifully. Her adlibs have the audience in fits of laughter. When she expresses her rage, you feel it and understand it. You want to rage with her. She’s relatable but also shines with a charisma you love to watch. You could say she’s a natural, but we all know skills of this standard only come from years of dedication and hard work. Ghenoa is disciplined, focussed and well-rehearsed.

Another major star of this show is the lighting. Niklas Pajanti has done a stunning job enhancing the emotions of the work with colour and illumination levels. The lighting state changes are perfectly timed. Colour is also used to great effect to set the scenes for different environments. The golden glow at the start of the show feels so nurturing and safe. The lush green when Ghenoa returns to her ancestral roots evokes forest. The flashing, violent red enhances and supports Ghenoa’s rage.

Michael Hankin’s set design is simple and effective. The large mirror facing the audience seems to be saying, “Take a look at yourself. Where do you fit in to this story? How do your prejudices and inaction in the face of injustice perpetuate racial inequity?” It also enables Ghenoa to occasionally play with the reflection, distancing herself emotionally from the audience by addressing them via the mirror glass.

You can’t fault Rachael Maza’s direction of the work; it’s outstanding. Theatre that moves you this much is vital. Yes, it’s wonderful to be entertained by theatre and this show is entertaining, but it’s something more than that. My Urrwai

feels important. It’s the sort of show you feel everyone should experience and perhaps, if we’re lucky, it would change society for the better.

Kiesten McCauley 

Photographer: David Collins