“Dear Son is moving; it stirs emotions and a longing for change. To quote, “The world needs less hate and more love”. This is part of the Sydney Festival and a must-see.”
Alethea Mouhtouris
5 Stars
Venue : Belvoir St Theatre (Upstairs)
Sydney
Dates: Until 25 January
There are shows that are serious and academic, ones that are silly and entertaining – and then there’s Dear Son, a powerful force of the heart and spirit.
In Dear Son, five Indigenous men in a ‘men’s shed’ environment speak about their fathers and sons, sharing their hopes, dreams, memories, traditions, and learnings.
The 70-minute show is based on a book by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander author and human rights advocate, Thomas Mayo. Mayo invited 12 First Nations men, including Stan Grant and Troy Casser-Daley, to write a letter of love and hope to their fathers and sons in the wake of the 2023 Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum.
The book was picked up and adapted for theatre by accomplished theatre makers Isaac Drandic and John Harvey, and the play premiered to great acclaim in June last year.
The letters have been woven into individual stories told by each performer in the setting of the men’s shed. At their heart sits deep love for family and community.
The play opens with the five performers – Jimi Bani, Waangenga Blanco, Kirk Page, Aaron Pedersen, and Tibian Wyles – standing strong against a background projection of horrendous slurs and language used by media to describe First Nations people in years gone by.
They share memories of their fathers, some of whom are Stolen Generation, their traditions, their language. They speak of loss of family, the struggles, of their son being born and cradling him in their arms with wonder, then when their 9 year old son wants to hold their hand, telling them “you’re too old for that,” and now questioning themselves over the toxic masculinity that causes great harm.
They reflect on the anger, sadness, the pain, and the “black pools of history in the eyes… So much anger, so much hurt… I’m glad my boys don’t have my father’s memories”.
The play acknowledges the immense pain caused to community. It’s a startling and shameful reminder of how horrifically people of this land have been treated, the critical role such works play in inspiring and strengthening young Indigenous people, and to enable gratitude and understanding among other communities who now call this land their own.
This is important to shape understanding as sons to fathers who lived through such trauma – to remember, understand, and honour – while fiercely wanting to not perpetuate the grief and anger in their own children.
Drandic explains: “…this production is more than a play — it is a gathering of story, spirit, and memory. At its heart is a conversation between a father and a son. But that conversation does not live only on the page or the stage. It lives in the hearts and histories of the men telling it.”
The performers are extraordinary. Each one stirs laughter and tears in the audience, and together their connection is tangible.
At the end, the five performers introduce themselves to the audience, and briefly share their own personal story. In a special post performance Q&A, director Drandic explained this was a late addition to the production, and was intended to strip back the layer separating the performer from the audience to create vulnerability and reflect the deep connection to their stories.
A special shoutout to film and TV actor Aaron Pederson, who performed in the original production in Brisbane and stepped in after one of the performers became ill, flying from Melbourne to Sydney on the morning, and taking part in only one rehearsal. It’s a testament to the actor that he flew through the performance, requiring no script and making no calls for ‘lines’ from the director.
The staging is beautiful in its simplicity – a wooden outdoor men’s shed with tin roof, a bbq, a simple firepit, sandy ground – while the lighting throws deep oranges and vivid blues so evocative of the Outback.
About the play, director Isaac Drandic said: “The significance of bringing these letters and these stories to the stage now is that we as men have to be able to talk about what’s going on for us. I think we’ve been taught that it’s not manly or it’s not masculine to speak about your feelings. I hope audiences, when they walk away from this work, feel a sense of joy. I’d love them to celebrate who we are as men and as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men together.”
Dear Son is moving; it stirs emotions and a longing for change. To quote, “The world needs less hate and more love”. This is part of the Sydney Festival and a must-see.
Images: Stephen Wilson Barker
Alethea Mouhtouris, Theatre Now
5 shooting stars
