Women of Their Word presented by the Theatre Redlands
Redland Museum
26th-28th March 2021
Dr Gemma Regan
A Creative Literary Time Capsule
In celebration of Women's History Month and World Poetry Day, the award-winning Theatre Redlands revisited their enlightening play Women of Their Word from 2020 at the Redland's Museum. The rise of sexual equality due to female activism has enabled modern women to become professionals and politicians. Each of the chosen characters are historically important Australian women who encapsulated the dawn of feminism through their written word. With a full female cast, except for the adaptable skills of the lone male Ray Noonan, Theatre Redlands educated and entertained the crowd with the history of five significant Australian poets.
The former ABC presenter, luvvie and eccentric Jan Nary wrote, directed and performed in Women of Their Word, written as a series of five diverse sketches. The poetry and literature was the focus for each of the distinguished authors: Maybanke Anderson; Dorothy Hewitt; Judith Wright; Leona Kyling; and Dame Mary Gilmore. Each prose was selected to highlight the roles and challenges of the Australian women accompanied by excerpts of their life stories.
There were two changes to the 2020 production with the strong-voiced Sharon Vassallo playing Dorothy Hewitt, one of Australia's best-loved and most respected writers from West Australia. Professional actress and puppeteer Penny Everingham also took to the stage with a new but important addition of Dame Mary Gilmore, a teacher, poet and social activist.
The Yorkshire-accented Ann-Marie Andersen opened the night with her commanding portrayal of Leona Kyling, a strong and passionate charity-minded local businesswoman. A short scene with the local Politician (Ray Noonan) demonstrated her tenacity and persuasiveness to change laws to help those in need. The talented young Lara Denny portrayed a young Jan Banks, who is now a Redland Museum volunteer, who had danced for Leona Kyling as a child. Nary had incorporated this small nugget of unknown history into the play and Jan was present at the performance, which was a lovely local touch. The chosen readings included Kyling’s love of her homeland combined with a strong feminist flavour. She is memorialised as a golden statue in her home area of Cleveland and is annually donned with an International Women’s Day sash.
The English suffragist, influential teacher and reformist Maybanke Anderson (Christine Venner-Westaway) recreated a scene with Lara Denny as her student in a classroom complete with desk and blackboard. Venner-Westaway demonstrated her powerful voice with the beloved Possum song and also in the moving union song of Weevils in the Flour by Dorothy Hewitt and Mike Leyden. Debbie Spearritt played the poet, environmentalist and advocate of Aboriginal land rights, Judith Wright with a rather dry performance of her life and poetry whilst stood behind a podium during a poetry recital.
Sharon Vassallo was amusing and witty when interviewed as the activist and West-Australian, Dorothy Hewitt. Ray Noonan was the smooth radio host delving into Hewitt’s life story and asking for recitations of her poetry. The final scene was more contemplative, between Dame Mary Gilmore (Penny Everingham) and a diligent researcher for a future posthumous book (Jan Nary). Dame Gilmore was a founding member of the Fellowship of Australian Writers and Sydney's infamous Lyceum Club. She is even memorialised in print on our $10 banknote. The two ladies sat around the table discussing old photographs, letters and memorabilia, which was moving and poignant. The professional acting talents of Everingham shone as portrayed Dame Gilmore as a strong, but sometimes forgetful woman of influence. Nary was in her element having interviewed many news-worthy characters whilst working for the ABC and seemed to be ad-libbing funny one-liners with Everingham,
The emotive original music of Donna Magrath was a valuable addition, accompanying the moving solo vocal performances and many of the readings throughout the night. Rousing applause thanked the eight talented performers at the close of the play as they fittingly held aloft the feminist banner “Hear Us Roar!”
Women of Their Word is a creative literary time capsule giving an educational insight into the prose and backgrounds of five historically significant women in Australian history.