Theatre review: Operation Boomerang, Subiaco Arts Centre

Billed as a dark comedy, Operation Boomerang from Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company is an absolute little ripper of a show. You will laugh, you will cry, you will picture your own oddball family on stage, and you will feel every emotion that the actors portray like they are your very own. It’s short and sweet; it will punch you in the face with sadness and then crack a joke to bring the smile back.

Operation Boomerang is a clever show that beautifully amplifies moments that need to be seen and discussed, yet are so often swept under the carpet.

Cultural and spiritual needs versus societal expectations is the crux of this work. Nana wants out of the old folks’ home and has hatched an escape plan, but will the rest of the family assist or resist their sassy matriarch’s sunset wishes?

Written by beloved West Australian writer and actor, Bruce Denny, Operation Boomerang is a family comedy that looks at some of the hard questions we need to face in our twilight years. It’s a family yarn about coming together despite differences, to support an ageing grand dame. This is a play not just about living – but about dying on your own terms.

Blended from a mix of fiction and the playwright’s lived experience, this witty and sensitive play’s driving force explores the importance for many Aboriginal people of having the choice to return to Country for the final stages of life.

Director Ian Wilkes clearly connected acutely with this story, and has roped in members of his own family – his Auntie (Dr Lynette Narkle) and niece (relative newcomer Ebony McGuire) – for the show. This casting unquestionably helps deliver the immediate warmth that envelopes the audience once the lights go down.

Narkle is completely captivating as the headstrong Nana, easily swinging between conveying the burden and weight of her spiritual intentions and needs, and the clever one-liners that expose the comic injustice and irony of the choices she is facing.

Owen Hasluck shines as the bumbling brother and has some of the most brilliant (and timely) lines, which root the play further in Western Australia as he underscores the woefulness of our health system with extremely funny quips.

The sets and costumes have been carefully curated and crafted by Matt McVeigh, placing us in familiar territory, with a whimsical twist that allows the story to travel and turn as needed.

Read: Performance reviews: North Australian Festival of Arts 2024 round-up

This piece is charming in its simplicity, yet the subject matter and portrayal will stay with you for a long time. Operation Boomerang will hopefully give families the green light to broach this customarily taboo or tricky subject in a new way. It is about knowledge, sharing, traditions, family, respect – and, most of all, love. 

Operation Boomerang
Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company
Subiaco Arts Centre
Playwright: Bruce Denny 
Director Ian Wilkes 
Set and Costume Designer: Matt McVeigh
Dramaturg: Humphrey Bower
Sound Designer: Jarred Wall
Lighting Designer: Karen Cook
Stage Manager: Jack Wilson 
Cast: Dr Lynette Narkle, Bobbi Henry, Owen Hasluck, Ebony McGuire Wimiya Woodley 

Operation Boomerang will be performed until 19 October 2024.