Emu in the Sun – Blak in the Room at the MTC

08 Dec Emu in the Sun – Blak in the Room at the MTC

Emu in the Sun at the Melbourne Theatre Company, written (and performed) by Phoebe Grainer, did not strike me as a balm to depression or despair. However, it did get us talking afterwards about where the different characters came from in First Nations mythology. And it was an interesting, moving and funny play.

It can be difficult to find Indigenous myths online. I assume this is because theirs is a verbal culture. They pass their stories down by telling them, not writing them down. It feels like such a big part of missing heritage on the Internet. I respect their commitment to their stories being shared verbally. The important thing seems to be to pass the stories on.

Snippets of Indigenous mythology

There is a little bit online. For example, the moon is usually a bad omen or character in First Nations culture. An elder played the part of the moon, which I later came to connect as an element symbolic of stories of the Dreamtime and the importance of the emu in our southern hemisphere constellations.

The emu story itself is also not well documented. However, there are a couple of references to the fact that throwing an emu egg into the sky created the sun. And of course the Dreamtime of stories that happened before the universe began.

The stories are so interesting, and researching them makes me feel closer to my city as part of Country. Looking up into the night sky, I want to learn more about First Nations stories of the Dreamtime.

Blak in the Room – Emu in the Sun

There were some truly sumptuous and sparkling moments in the play. Teresa Moore, who played Silver, was incredibly feminine and divine. Trevor Jamieson, who played the moon, the emu and a very humourous cowboy, was wonderfully funny. And I could feel the empathetic and supportive spirit of the dragon and the bull played by Luke Currie-Richardson. Phoebe Grainer has written a very thought-provoking play. She also did a wonderful job playing Etta, who managed to evoke feelings of empathy and concern.

Emu in the Sun was part of the series Blak in the Room which played at the MTC between November 27 and December 7. I will be interested to see what the cast and crew do next!