Watersong represents a triumph on many fronts. It is TheatreiNQ’s first ground-breaking foray into presenting quality locally-written First Nations work, an endeavour that Artistic Director Terri Brabon has encouraged and nurtured through the company’s now annual PlayGround Writers Festival, but it also marks the world premiere of a play by Townsville-based First Nations actor and playwright, Shannon Jensen.
Having reviewed almost 50 productions that TheatreiNQ has produced in the last 14 years, there is one constant thread that runs through its entire body of work and that is the quest for and depiction of emotional truth.
And nowhere is this more apparent than in Watersong. It displays not only all the best that this theatre company has to offer in terms of interpretation and presentation, but also a deep respect for the playwright’s work.
Writing this work has been a truly “natural and fulfilling experience” for Jensen, who has been honing her skills as a writer over the past few years. A regular performer with TheatreiNQ, she notes that “bringing a play to life is a process and sometimes you have to let go (just a little) and trust that the characters and the story will develop on their own”.
While describing the experience as an emotional roller-coaster, Jensen says it has inspired her commitment to “bringing our culture to life and seeing First Nations stories thrive on the Townsville stage”.
Under Brabon’s expert and sensitive guidance this play has received what can only be described as ‘the TheatreiNQ touch’. It has been beautifully designed (a magnificent set by Brendan O’Connor) and splendidly lit by Daniel Lobley. There is an extraordinary, almost ethereal sound and visual effect layer, which offers it an almost fluid and feminine energy.
The appeal of this play lies in the fact that it works with a universal theme. Fundamentally, it is about family issues, which has been the subject of countless literary works through the ages. In this work, they stem from an awful incident that has enormous repercussions to two successive generations of the Joinbee family, all complicated with secrets and misunderstandings, and overlaid with behaviour that only family members would tolerate from one another. It is ultimately a play of immense beauty and moving sensitivity, which is thought-provoking as much as it is touching, but laced with wonderful moments of humour.
Symbolically, a dry creek bed lies still, slowly dying, which mirrors the fractured relationships between three generations of women. These women share a sense of Country and a spiritual bond with water and the ‘water women’ whose spirits inhabit the water.
The matriarch of the family is nearing the end of her time, and her estranged daughter and grand-daughter visit her. The three women come together – albeit reluctantly. It is a fluid, emotional portrait of the relationships between these three women as old hurts, resentments, shame and the secrets of the past slowly unravel to end in a mutual acknowledgement of shared spiritual connection to Country, water and each other.
The play would not work without the strong interplay between the actors, and the connection between the four protagonists is almost tangible.
There is Deb (Penney Kay) the woman who has come to care for the ailing grandmother, Tottie. Kay gives a delightful warm and natural performance.
Marguerite Wesselinoff gives a stunning, powerful portrayal as the flawed grandmother who is confined to a wheelchair following a couple of debilitating strokes. While she may only be able to communicate through a series of taps, her spirit is just as feisty as ever. We see this when she breaks out of paralysis and communicates directly to the audience. Foul-mouthed, spirited and funny, she shows the audience just what kind of person she must have been.
Just as strong and poignant is the playwright herself as her estranged daughter, Lynette. Confrontational, aggressive and guarded, Lynette has seen life take her down a series of rocky roads in her simple but understandable quest for love, which she didn’t receive from her mother. The archetypal wild child, she may regret what she has done, but she fiercely defends it, while at the same time desiring love from her mother and daughter.
Then there is the third generation – Lynnette’s daughter, Joanie, played by Darylle Sim. It’s a stage debut for this 16-year-old who shows enormous promise as she tries to negotiate a truce between her mother and grandmother.
This essentially human tale resonates indelibly with all who have experienced family trauma and misunderstanding. Jensen provides us with a resolution that’s interesting and everlasting. No matter what your family issues are, finding a pathway to resolution through mutual understanding – if only implied – is a way forward. In Watersong, the characters find that understanding and resolution through acknowledgment of their shared spiritual connection to Country, the water and the traditional ways.
Watersong is a beautiful and moving work, sensitively directed, performed and realised, which deserves a wider (if not national) audience.
Watersong by Shannon Jensen
A TheatreiNQ Production
Directors: Terri Brabon and Shannon Jensen
Lighting Design: Daniel Lobley
Set Design/Construction: Brendan O’Connor
AV/Sound design: Terri Brabon
Stage manager: Fionn Baker-Goodson
Production Assistant/ASM: Sasha Lea-Rowell
Sound/AV Operator: Charlotte Davies
Costumes: Kathy Brabon
Cast: Shannon Jensen, Marguerite Wesselinoff, Penney Kay, Darylle Sim, Harrie Dean, Alex Dean
Watersong will be performed until 30 November 2024 but the entire season was sold out within two days of opening.
