“Boyd’s monologues are Shakespearean in their epic tone and the tragedy of the ending is all the more desperate in how easily it could have been avoided”
“This is an important play, which I hope will provoke discussion amongst non-Indigenous Australians, or perhaps not so much discussion as a chance to listen, to follow rather than insist on leading”
– Suzanne Mackay 4 /5 stars
‘At What Cost?’ is a study in minimalism right from the beginning of the play. The stage is sparse with dried, pale branches outlining the edge of stage territory, a shanty monument upstage centre and the interior of a shack along the stage right wall. In an instant, the audience is introduced to the simplicity of a vast open country with a reverence clearly shown towards the space. This is where simplicity ends. What follows from the moment the lights come up, is a complex web of identity, territory and the blurred lines between the right to assert an individual identity and the desire to belong. W a world where our right to our individual identity clashes with the expectation that others must accept what we assert.
We first meet Boyd (Luke Carroll) and Nala (Sandy Greenwood) in a moment of domestic normalcy, where groceries need to be purchased, plans made for the baby on the way and; did you know that Uncle is coming home? The domestic bliss rises to amorousness and is interrupted by Boyd’s cousin Daniel (Ari Maza Long), who’s insertion into the couples home life is tolerated because he’s family and you can’t say no to family.
The arrival of the young, white Gracie (Alex Malone) doesn’t rock the boat, at least not initially. She’s curious, involved and sympathetic to the ‘cause’. She says she’s doing research, she says she believes the colonisation of Australia to be abhorrent she says she respects their culture. A relationship develops between Gracie and Daniel, Nala and Gracie have a shared history and what unfolds is a slow burning firestorm that started more than forty thousand years ago. Boyd takes the responsibility for managing and caring for his country seriously, he is wary of Gracie from the start but is hospitable and accommodating. However, as Daniel and Gracie get closer and Nala is drawn into to her orbit, Boyd begins to move away, his instinct being to fight and protect.
The strength of this story is in the complexity and ambiguity. Nothing is black and white, literally and metaphorically. White fragility is fully exposed when Gracie implores Daniel for acceptance, crying out that ‘people like her’ deserve to belong. Her desire to be accepted as part of the culture and her willingness to lie her way into the community overwhelms all sense and reason and she becomes just another perpetrator of cultural pain. At the same time, Boyd begins to spiral, becoming obsessed with the threat from the ‘tick-a-boxes’, those who want to claim their Aboriginality without any solid evidence of it and as the ceremony for the skull of their ancestor grows near, he becomes consumed by his own identity. It is left to Daniel and Nala to find the middle ground, to wonder if there can be a cultural faith whereby they accept without proof and if there can be reconciliation while keeping true to their ways.
The performances are all strong, albeit reaching their peak of energy at different times, the play at its strongest when all are on stage together. Boyd’s monologues are Shakespearean in their epic tone and the tragedy of the ending is all the more desperate in how easily it could have been avoided. The dialogue flows, moving effortlessly from the every day to the grand, the actors all commanding the stage without overwhelming it.
This is an important play, which I hope will provoke discussion amongst non-Indigenous Australians, or perhaps not so much discussion as a chance to listen, to follow rather than insist on leading.
Suzanne Mackay, Theatre Now
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