Big hART. Written and directed by Scott Rankin. The Canberra Theatre Centre. 3 Jul 2013
2013 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the year John Pat’s life was cut tragically short in a police cell in Roebourne, sparking the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
But, despite the Royal Commission and the hundreds of recommendations made as a result, three decades on Indigenous people are shamefully overrepresented in our justice system.
Hipbone Sticking Out is an epic journey through history that seeks to explain this so-called “wicked problem” plaguing contemporary Australia through the lens of the past four centuries.
Beginning in the cell where John Pat lay dying, the mythical figure Pluto (Lex Marinos) appears and grants him (as both the teenager he was then and the 46 year old man he would’ve been now) the two hours before his death to revisit the past in order to understand how he came to arrive at his untimely ending.
What follows isn’t just an examination of John’s life – we are taken as far back as Holland in 1602 during the rise of the Dutch East India Company, and their quest to bring the natural riches of the new world to a Europe ravenous for exotic trinkets.
It’s not long before the waters of the Pilbara, with its abundance of valuable pearls, are subsequently plundered and the Indigenous inhabitants enslaved to harvest this precious resource.
These years mark the beginning of a period of great injustice for Aboriginal people, which continues to the present day, with the consequences subsequently reverberating throughout each new generation.
Set upon the backdrop of Murujuga (translating into ‘Hipbone Sticking Out’), Hipbone Sticking Out explores the concept of Western law and culture and how they have been misused and abused to rob Aboriginal people of their autonomy since first contact.
Like Big hART’s previous productions, Namatjira and Ngapartji Ngapartji, there was an intermittent and none too subtle poking of fun at the predominately non-Indigenous audience. This effectively served to reverse the status quo and put us on the receiving end of the patronising and ignorant remarks Indigenous people have endured for so long, and reflect on how much their reality is mediated on their behalf.
A spectacularly visual production, it uses mesmerising digital imagery coupled with striking symbolism to transport the audience through time and space to cover an enormous amount of historical ground.
While the script is complex, chaotic and at times abstract, it is essentially one of extraordinary depth and detail. There is precise method to writer and director Scott Rankin’s madness, and as the story unfolds you begin to appreciate the extent of his ambition for Hipbone Sticking Out and just how elegantly it has been executed by those involved.
The soundscape is made up of an eclectic mashup of musical styles ranging from traditional Indigenous songs from the Pilbara region to modern pop and retro punk and a sea shanty thrown in for good measure; in the context they were used they fit perfectly with the production and provided some phenomenal vocal performances.
The tumult does eventually succumb to calm, with the gradual dismantling of both the theatrical construct and the elaborate set that had been so painstakingly built up. This was replaced with a direct address to the audience for the final part of the show, with the main performers (Trevor Jamieson, Jada Alberts, Simon Gleeson, Derik Lynch, Lex Marinos and Natalie O’Donnell) stripping the intricate layers of the production back to basics to tell the actual story of John Pat’s short but now forever symbolic life.
It was refreshing to see the freedom bestowed on the cast to openly display the emotions that were stirred within them through their storytelling - feelings that were no doubt magnified by the presence of John’s mother in the front row that night.
Archie Roach as the surprise special guest of the evening was also moved to tears by the conclusion of the show, and fought to compose himself as he performed his touching acoustic tribute to John Pat.
It was no surprise that those in attendance leapt to their feet as this Australian chronicle came to a close. The magnitude and grandeur of Hipbone Sticking Out was off the charts and the abundant talent of the entire cast and crew is to be lauded.
However, the parting plea to recognise the humanity of Indigenous people and the role non-Indigenous people have played in orchestrating these “wicked problems” of society was most poignant. So much more than theatre, this latest offering from Big hART is a profound exercise in healing.
Deborah Hawke
When: Closed
Where: The Canberra Theatre Centre
Bookings: Closed
