An Octoroon

There’s a reason everyone’s been raving about An Octoroon. First, you have a hot young Aussie playwright Nakkiah Luimaking her directorial debut. Secondly, it’s a piece by hot young US playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, adapted to the Australian vernacular by Ms Lui. Thirdly, it has a hot cast and crew giving the Bille Brown Studio a final send-off before it’s remodelled with a new stage, seating and foyer, into Bille Brown Theatre.

The buzz around this play began months ago. It had grown to the point where I’d worried it may have been over-hyped and my opening night expectations would be too high to enjoy it. It’s always a relief to find a play that matches the buzz and then exceeds expectations. It was funny, sad, confronting, thrilling and brave.

Dialogue was witty, dark, clever and insightful. The direction covered a wide range of genres: reformation era style melodrama, slapstick and physical comedy, black comedy, Brechtian theatre and at times the style even felt Shakespearean. But it wasn’t all non-stop action and dialogue. An Octoroon used silence so beautifully to build these achingly tense and heartbreaking moments amid the vigorous hilarity.

Of course special mention must go to Colin Smith (BJJ/ George/ M’Closky) for his brilliant work in the lead role, but the entire cast was amazing (Elaine Crombie, Chenoa Deemal, Sarah Ogden, Melodie Reynolds-Diarra, Shari Sebbens, Colin Smith, Anthony Standish ad Anthony Taufa) not a single weak link on stage. Everyone was committed, energetic, courageous and mercurial. There was such focus and dedication, you could really tell they were putting their hearts and souls into the show. It’s always such a pleasure to see actors really committing to the comedy and being bold enough to look ugly and crazy and flawed.

Nakkiah Lui didn’t just draw brilliant performances out of her actors. Once again Ben Hughes delivered outstanding and perfectly timed lighting. Renée Mulder’s costume designs were delightfully clever and some of the best I’ve seen in recent months. The music direction (James Henry) was perfect, especially with artists like Kanye West, Nicki Minaj and Azealia Banks espousing powerful, racially charged messages to high octane beats.

It was so clever to set this play with a traverse stage, with the audience facing off against each other serving as both a metaphor for racial opposition, as an homage to reformation era habits of observing the audience as much if not more than the play, and as a Brechtian device where the opposite audience’s reactions become as much a part of the experience for you as the onstage action.

Speaking of which, if language and concepts upset you, be prepared for a lot of taboo linguistics including the N word and the C bomb. I love a good language and concept so it didn’t perturb me as much as the poor old gent in the front row opposing mine on opening night. Also, the play runs for about two hours with no interval so it’s a good idea to go to the bathroom beforehand.

I was trying to imagine how a tragedy could have covered the important issues and themes in An Octoroon. I don’t think it could have done so quite as effectively. Comedies like this have the power to open discussions that are difficult and that bring up very real trauma for many indigenous Australians. I think it’s important for white Australians to see this too. You think you understand racism and have empathy for our brothers and sisters of different races. This play will still open your eyes and teach you things you didn’t really comprehend about race, privilege and our shameful history. It does it in such an entertaining and loving way, you can’t help but adore An Octoroon. Don’t worry, if you book to see this, it will live up to the hype.

Kiesten McCauley 

Photographer: Rob MacColl