Head Full of Love

This play is a warm hug on a chilly winter’s night. With a backdrop of the wonderfully idiosyncratic Alice Springs Beanie Festival, Head Full of Love is about the unlikely friendship between a traditional Aboriginal woman living with renal failure in the absolute poverty of an Alice Springs town camp, and an older white woman running away from Sydney and her family.

Tilly, played with sensitivity by Paula Delaney Nazarski, is fluent in Pitjantjara but struggles sometimes to express herself in English. In spite of the language issues, Ms Nazarski shows Tilly to be industrious, intelligent, brave, proud, humorous and crafty. Outwardly resigned to her life which includes many hours of dialysis, Tilly quietly holds within her a red hot anger at having to live every day with the consequences of compounded injustices.

Annie Byron’s Nessa as an older woman in a society that values youth and beauty above all else finds herself in a state of crisis – a belated child of the 60s taking an existential road trip to find herself. Although kind-hearted, Ms Byron's Nessa is initially awkward, uncomfortable and patronising; well-meaning, but prone to appalling unintentionally racist assumptions. When she first spots Tilly, she doesn’t really see her at all; she sees an amalgam of stereotypes. One by one she blurts these out.  This leads to much hilarity and moments which will have many in the audience both cringing and wincing with recognition, but also serves to allow Tilly to confound and correct these misconceptions. Poor Tilly—not only does she have to suffer being dirt poor and dreadfully ill, she needs to be patient as well.

The two characters need each other,  and the actresses convey the bond that grows between them as warm and genuine. In places the play is frightening and tragic, the emotion coming in waves, but ultimately ends on a hopeful note.The staging and lighting are beautifully done with rich ochres and blues.

Whenever white writers create Aboriginal characters, there are always concerns about appropriation of Aboriginal stories and worries about misrepresentation (for instance Tom Keneally now regrets having written The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, and Jimmy McGovern, having written Redfern Now, for this reason deliberately excluded Indigenous characters from his convict drama Banished-an omission which arguably is worse). However, if anyone is able to successfully reach across the cultural divide, it’s Ms Valentine and Mr Enoch. Ms Valentine's technique involves many months of her immersion in interviews, consultation, collaboration and workshops. Director Wesley Enoch, a Noonuccal Nuugi man of Murri descent, has ensured Tilly is well-rounded and deep, not the least thanks to Beth Sometimes’s language tutoring which has given the Pitjantjara veracity. Tilly’s character is vital, but getting Nessa absolutely right is important too. White audiences need to recognise the Nessa in themselves in order perhaps to avoid the same mistakes.

Highly recommended for all audiences, young and old. The audience is encouraged to donate to The Purple House mobile dialysis clinic at givenow.com.au/thepurplehousefund.

Cathy Bannister

Photographer: David D'Arcy