The Matilda Women

This year La Boite Theatre in Brisbane marks a major milestone – a century of “opening hearts and opening minds”. To celebrate, the company has programmed play readings of 10 of their most iconic productions in a series of Encores. It’s a lovely idea and audiences agree – the theatre was almost full and the crowd very enthusiastic for the one-night-only performance. Tonight’s show was writer/director Sue Rider’s The Matilda Women, which premiered in 1988 for the Bicentennial, which also happened to coincide with Expo ’88. Sue Rider was there to introduce the performance and recall the play’s success over the past decades, especially in its secondary role of introducing schoolchildren to a snapshot of Queensland feminist history through the stories of nine intriguing and historically important women, who don’t always make it into the history text books. We have well-known women such as singer Gladys Moncrieff and painter Vida Lahey; political reformers, trade unionist Emma Miller and feminist Margaret Ogg, and Brisbane’s first female GP, Dr Lilian Cooper; to the less well-known, naturalist Amalie Dietrich, teacher Mary Watson, selector’s wife Ellen Thomson and a humble servant Agnes Stokes.

Playing multiple roles, the original cast was Justine Anderson, Sharonlee Martin, Christen O’Leary and Rosemary Traynor, who all went on to leave their mark on Brisbane’s theatre scene. We were lucky enough to have Sue Rider introduce two of her original 1988 cast – Rosemary and Justine – along with Barbara Lowing from the 1993 production. Barbara also remains a welcome addition to our stages today. This top-drawer trio were joined by Mia Lierich, who is making her La Boite debut. The simple play-reading format was elevated by the talent on stage, and it was a treat to witness these experienced performers in their element – creating engaging and entertaining characters from the page and winging it to fill any gaps. I saw one of the original productions back in the day, and I’d forgotten just how funny Justine’s impersonation of a deadly taipan was! But as well as the humour, there were many emotional moments when reliving the hardships and abject terror in the lives of these Queensland pioneer characters. All of these actors were very young when they first performed this script, and it’s interesting how much more I appreciated their stories when portrayed by a performer closer to her character’s age. In her introduction, Sue conceded that she would tweak some of the lines had she written them today. But I think the piece stood up to the test of time quite well – the addition of some First Nations and Asian Australian experiences would add to the richness of the overall tale. While the warmth and support of the audience (there was an enthusiastic standing ovation at the end of the hour-long reading) reminded me of days at the ‘old’ La Boite theatre on Hale Street, this performance wasn’t just a nostalgic nod to the 1980s – it was fresh and rich and a perfect selection to fulfil Artistic Director Courtney Stewart’s aim of reminding audiences of La Boite’s past achievements while remaining ‘on brand’ for the theatre’s mission today: continuing to open hearts and minds.

The Encore programme reminded me that the first play I saw at La Boite was Ludwig & Michel’s Plastik! in 1983! It was an exciting time with lots of emerging local acting, musical and comedy talent. La Boite gave them all a showcase outside the often confined repertoires of the subscriber-based state theatre company. The theatre helped us work through the conservative politics of the 1980s, it gave voice to issues of sexuality and gender identity, and told local stories – definitely something worth celebrating. There’s a fabulous archive of past productions on the theatre’s website. And upcoming plays in the Encore series include Margery Forde’s X-Stacy, Leah Purcell’s Black Chicks Talking, and Michelle Law’s Single Asian Female. Check the website: laboite.com.au/shows

Beth Keehn

Photographer: Stephen Henry