Review: Meyne Wyatt's CITY OF GOLD Is Given A Bigger Audience As Sydney Theatre Company Joins With Black Swan Theatre Company of WA To Present A Powerful Production

Friday 27th May 2022, 7:30pm, Wharf 1 Theatre Walsh Bay

Meyne Wyatt's powerful CITY OF GOLD highlights the ongoing discrimination and racism that the Australian Indigenous communities still face in the 21st Century. Premiered in 2019 in the intimate space of Griffin Theatre Company's SBW Stables theatre, this co-production between BLACK SWAN Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company brings the important story and underlying message to a wider audience and allows more people to see the full work behind Wyatt's captivating monologue on ABC's Q+A in 2020.

Drawing on Wyatt's own life, but it is unclear how autobiographical the work really is, CITY OF GOLD centres on Breythe Black (Meyne Wyatt), an actor of indigenous heritage who currently finds himself conflicted in the need for acting work and the fact that the his current job is directed by a casually racist director with a problematic storyline that seeks to exploit outdated expressions of Australia's Indigenous population for comedy effect. He's decision is made for him when family comes first and he needs to return home to the rural Western Australian mining town of Kalgoorlie for his father's funeral where he finds that things have gotten worse for his community as indigenous people are still targeted by police and the wider population. Returning to the family home where his mother, unseen throughout, and sister Carina ( Simone Detourbet) still live, and elder brother Mateo (Mathew Cooper) and cousin "Cliffhanger" (Ian Michael) regularly visit, old memories are unearthed and current arguments continue along with a greater exposure of the the 'City of Gold's dark undertone as arguably the most racist town in Australia according to a University of Western Australia Study. While Shari Sebbens originated the role of Carina for the Griffin Theatre production, she takes on the director role for this production, bringing new vision to the work while being closely connected to the play's progression.

Designer Tyler Hill utilises the black box space of Wharf 1 Theatre to present an expression of the back of a typical Kalgoorlie weatherboard house, complete with the expected accoutrements of a back porch. The house is represented as mesh covered frames that allow people within the framework to be seen under certain light. The side of the house, with a large open space and unadorned awning serves as a space for any scene that doesn't take place in the back yard. Verity Hampson's lighting design helps reinforce which location is the focus and whether its part of reality or memory. The ability to pierce through the layers of the walls to see a solitary desperate character searching in the distance is powerful.

This work remains a powerful piece and Sebbens vision for this production is clear while still holding secrets as the pieces of the puzzle come together. She ensures that it remains confronting and its interesting to sit in an audience where the work is completely new to them and they then realise that what once seemed numerous is actually quite dark and not as funny as first thought. Her choice to have Wyatt deliver the Act 2 opening monologue, the piece that he delivered on ABC's Q+A, from atop the verandah roof is perfect in ensuring the gravity of the message is heard and understood.

Mathew Cooper reprises his performance of elder brother Mateo Black, giving the role the requisite anger and judgement along with an underlying despair. Simone Detourbet's interpretation of Carina shows she is strong and level headed while still needing support from her brothers, something that often feels slow in coming. As cousin Cliffhanger, Ian Michael captures the innocence of the medically challenged young man who deals with both deafness, seizures and developmental difficulties, making it all the more confronting that he is a target for the town bullies and thuggish police force. Trevor Ryan represents the memory of the recently departed Dad, giving him a gravitas that shows that he was a strong guiding force that tried to instil strong values and connection to country and heritage with his children.

CITY OF GOLD remains an exceptionally powerful work that everyone should see. While it is centred on a Wonguthi family and Kalgoorlie, its easy to believe that similar stories have occurred around the country, reinforcing the need to support measures to ensure that the outdated attitudes to Indigenous people are changed.

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