Melbourne Theatre Company’s The Black Woman of Gippsland challenges perceptions and shows the importance of truth telling.
Written and directed by Yorta Yorta/Gunaikurnai playwright Andrea James, The Black Woman of Gippsland follows the story of Jacinta (Chenoa Deemal) on her quest to submit her dissertational proposal surrounding the colonial era myth, The White Woman of Gippsland. She is on a tight deadline and takes the audience on a journey to help piece the story together.
The White Woman of Gippsland is an actual myth that exists outside the world of the play. Originating around the 1840s, the story, as told by European settlers, was that a woman had gone missing and had been kidnapped by some Gunaikurnai people. The tale, starting from a single letter published in a newspaper, soon grabbed the public’s attention and spiralled into an unknown number of variations. It escalated to the point of two search parties being sent to ‘rescue’ her, without any solid evidence of this woman ever existing in the first place. These ‘rescue’ missions turned into the hunting down of, and eventual horrific massacring of the Gunaikurnai people.
Eventually, an agreement was struck to return the white woman, where the Europeans were shocked to only be presented with a female bust figurehead of a ship. No other woman was ever found.
So much about this tale is difficult to lock down in detail, as Jacinta finds. Especially when the historical archives come from an extremely biased and one-sided view of history. Oral storytelling traditions are not taken into account, and not as easily cited under academia expectations.
Alongside looking back to the past, we see Jacinta going about her life in the present too. Her Aunty Rochelle (Ursula Yovich) and Cousin Kyle (Zach Blampied) give glimpses into the trio’s close sense of family, but also of current struggles. Yovich’s deep sense of love and frustration can be felt. Blampied wears many hats, playing other ensemble characters alongside Kyle. Many scenes are interspersed with performer Brent Watkins, with a mix of traditional and modern dance, and movements. These scenes help to break up the narrative and set the mood of other scenes. Ian Bliss as the patronising police Sergeant, also delivers a strong performance.
The Black Woman of Gippsland feels a little clunky in some of the more initial scenes, but there is understandably a lot of narrative to get through to communicate the story of the myth and bring us up to speed on the play’s characters. Although, this is more than made up for at the culmination, the storm, and the ending. An impressive concoction of sound, lighting and AV design (James Henry, Verity Hampson, Rhian Hinkley. respectively) mixed with strong emotional storytelling from the cast, resonated deeply with all present in the audience. A poignant and strong reflection of where the real lost women may be today, and what myths the world continues to spout. The final scene made beautiful use of the set design by Romanie Harper, to create a memorable final image.
I was lucky enough to attend a Forum Night, where the cast returned to the stage after the show for an audience Q&A session. Some audience members provided thought-provoking questions which gave space for the cast to give great insight into their performances, including their favourite scenes, what the show means to them, and how to balance the mental toll of telling such heavy and personal stories on stage each night.
To note, however, there were also some seemingly white audience members who used this time to share their own connection to their ancestry and white cultural mythology, not even respectfully asking a question of the cast after their statements. While I do not invalidate their own thoughts and feelings, it makes the actual content of a play like this feel even more important. One of the overall themes to me was about allowing space for First Nations storytelling. Not always hearing just the ‘white side’ of history and it was disappointing that this didn’t resonate with everyone in the audience that night.
Melbourne Theatre Company’s The Black Woman of Gippsland is currently playing in Melbourne at the Southbank Theatre until May 31st.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/whats-on/season-2025/the-black-woman-of-gippsland
Photography by Pia Johnson.
