In A Nighttime Travesty, First Nations women embrace Indigenous futurism – and push the boundaries of theatre
- Written by: Julie Andrews, Professor and Academic Director (Indigenous Research), La Trobe University
A Nighttime Travesty is a bold new piece of theatre that depicts many illusions and truth interspersed with history.
What would happen if the world was to end? A plane has left Earth because Earth is dying. The journey is an escape for survival, but they are taking Earth-created social inequalities with them.
While hurtling into space, two hostesses talk about not feeling at home on Earth anymore. We can no longer advance as a human race and are forced to relocate.
The future of humankind does not appear optimistic – it is in the hands of the pilot.
Kamarra Bell-Wykes and Carly Sheppard, co-creators of the work and the lead performers, bring brilliance to their artistic flair, playing multiple characters.
They are the two hostesses: one a young Aboriginal woman who has been impregnated by the pilot, and the other a robot. The pilot is played by Bell-Wykes, and Sheppard is a strange victim with a wit.
Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo, A Nighttime Travesty is thought-provoking and complex theatre that addresses Aboriginal history and oppression using media representations of Aussie male humour.
Earth is dying. The journey is an escape for survival, but they are taking Earth-created social inequalities with them. There is no new world waiting for them to start over. They will have to do that themselves.
They ponder what is ahead of them as they travel to a new life somewhere in space.
The thread throughout the production is held together by a black and white history while the actors sing, dance, give birth and turn into murderers.
Indigenous futurism
A Nighttime Travesty intertwines Indigenous futurism and vaudeville.
Indigenous futurism is a cultural practice of imagining the future, while acknowledging past and present. Including cultural practices and ways of knowing with social and political commentary within a scientific framework can create an aura of illusion and truth.
Aboriginal storytelling has long moved in and out of the past into the present in various artistic mediums as a form of expression and teaching. Indigenous futurism can be found in literature, film, visual arts, video games, poetry, music, fashion and theatre.
The philosophies of Indigenous ways of knowing and oral histories are important tools for storytelling.
The actors play dual gender neutral roles. The women depict the Australian male: the sexual power and masculinity in the workplace intermixed with artificial intelligence and technology. They are joined on stage by performers Zach Blampied and Peter Wykes, and musicians Matt Pana and Small Sound.
A Nighttime Travesty is particularly dense with sexualised humour and underlying pokes of fun made at the Aussie male expense.
The dark side of the humour from an Indigenous woman’s perspective steers the twists and turns which move with such quick motion that the audience is left waiting for conclusions to the messages.
Aboriginal history
Much of this play is a reflection upon humanity and the life lessons learned or not learned from history. It is also a social and political commentary from young viewers of Australian humour on television and experiences of Australian society values.
Throughout the play there is lots of symbolism reflecting Australia. The sexual humour is structured around Australian icons of media, and BBQ aprons with male and female printed torsos. The actors morph into the sexuality of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women.
It seems the co-creators researched the long-running Saturday night national television show Hey Hey It’s Saturday to finally offer a First Nations commentary.
On that show, men roasted each other, their guests and the audience – and presented a gem every now and then that would save their credibility.
Here, a dark hooded man sits on a bench titled “Hey Hey it’s Judgement Day” and a puppet on a stick named Dicky Lee is involved in sexual acts. This is presented as humorous, yet the audience is left feeling slightly embarrassed at Dicky’s involvement.
The play riffs off the long-running variety show Hey Hey, It’s Saturday.
Gregory Lorenzutti/Malthouse Theatre
Religion, sex and babies born out of wedlock are harsh realities of life. Religion and God is pondered for the new world – but God is a man, and is blamed for the problems of the world.
Can they start over in a modern world, and what will their faith be? The Aboriginal hostess is concerned that, on a new planet, her Elders will be meaningless and, as the only Aboriginal on the plane, her culture and her race will die out. But wait – her baby will be the new beginning.
A Nighttime Travesty from A Daylight Connection played at Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne. Season closed.
Authors: Julie Andrews, Professor and Academic Director (Indigenous Research), La Trobe University
