New Review critic Monique Grbec says Matriarch, a family saga about four generations of Salt Water women, is a triumph
The scale of Matriarch, a one-woman show about four generations of Salt Water women written and performed by award winning Gumbaynggirr, Dunghutti and Bundjalung artist Sandra Greenwood, is immense. Less than five minutes in to Greenwood’s skilful performance of childhood connection to Country, I was wondering why this production wasn’t in a big theatre with a big cast.
Debuting at Fringe Warehouse, the creek bed set is dressed with live grasses and plants, with a soundtrack of birdsong warmed by live yidaki. In Matriarch, the spirit of Country mirrors the spirit of her family experience.
The story-telling flows through music, dance, and hip-hop. Greenwood’s expressive physicality takes us from broad-sweeping Creation to tight hard-ass gansta rap; from a family creek with animal friends, stocked with pippies, cray and plenty of fish for the eating, to a place where people survive on the bare minimum.
The loud sounds of a car engine signal an upcoming silence. Police come and put 14 children into cars: “If they don’t come now…it’s for their own good…I’m just doing my job.” For five years, Greenwood’s mother never got a cuddle. When her older brother found her and she finally went home: “I was scared and nervous to see Mum.” The nun’s rules were branded into her being: a proper little white girl.
It’s fitting that this show debuts in Victoria, as it’s the only Australian state that hasn’t compensated stolen generations for the lost love, culture, country, and the racism, abuses and traumas that were inflicted on them and their families. There were moments during Greenwood’s performance where I planted my feet to the floor, stopping an urge to run from the room.
If the dancing was the wind and the Gumbaynggirr language the sound of leaves, Greenwood’s family humour was the sunshine that warmed even the most traumatic events of the Salt Water people. The laugh-out-loud comedy kept the action moving, and the sold out audience was riveted to our seats, ready to stand high and clap loudly – a big, loud and long standing ovation for this incredible actor and writer, and her dream team director Oliver V. Crowley.
The New Review program is a collaboration between Witness and Footscray Community Arts Centre West Writers that nurtures and mentors new critical voices. It is part of Malthouse Theatre’s Living Now resident writers program, funded through the MPA Collaborations program, and has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.
Matriarch, written and performed by Sandy Greenwood, directed by Oliver V. Cowley. A Deadly Fringe event supported by Melbourne Fringe and ILBIJERRI Theatre Company. Fringe Hub Arts House Warehouse, Melbourne Fringe, until September 29. Bookings https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/matriarch/
Contains mild coarse language, adult themes (sexual assault or abuse), intergenerational trauma, stolen generations, images or voices of deceased Indigenous persons
The venue is wheelchair accessible.
