Maymay, the storyteller of the show, is an aging Aboriginal woman who has returned briefly to her old camp on the cattle station where she once lived. But, as for many Aboriginal men and women, life was not at all easy in those post-war yet pre- referendum days spent working for ‘the boss’ and ‘the missus’ in almost feudal social structures.
As Maymay hangs out the (now bone dry and red earth-stained) washing for ‘the missus’ on the twisted wire clothesline, she chattily remembers the season of love, joy and revenge that tumultuously swept through the outback station, resulting in tragedy and sudden ruin.
Maymay has internalized her thoughts for decades. Now she briefly has the chance to complete all the unfinished business in unfolding tales of courage, spirit, strength, love, tenderness and loss. There is also singing, and an almost dreamlike story of love, pumpkins and potatoes.
Roxanne McDonald (Yibiyung, Parramatta Girls) is brilliant as Maymay in this very demanding solo work. Her sometimes world weary face can be transformed in a flash, transforming from tired and lined to glowing with childlike mischief and delight. She enters quietly in a crushed white a-line dress buttoned down the front, a floral floppy sunhat, and a basket containing water bottle, sandwich and mobile phone. Her 11 characters in the show range from Maymay herself to ‘the boss’ and ‘the missus’; Maymay’s husband Malvern; the crippled gardener, Wunman; various Aboriginal elders; even Skitchem the dog.
In her portrayal of Wunman there is a hint, perhaps, of Olivier’s Richard III, yet his green-fingeredness and prolific veggie garden is symbolic of happiness and life at the mission. The lecherous Skitchem is a hoot. As Maymay says, love does funny things to a woman.
Kylie Farmer (last seen wowing audiences in The Sapphires) makes her magnificent directorial debut in this new Belvoir Downstairs production. The production design is quintessentially Australian, evoking the dusty landscape via a ramshackle collection of bungalows and a station home caught in a long drought. Ruby Langton-Batty’s wonderfully evocative set grabs us from our entrance with the red ochre dust of the Kimberleys, rusty corrugated iron fences, a battered old bed frame, various rusty pails and wash tubs; and a long stick that morphs from a cane to a crutch to a rifle. Very Nolan, or should that be Namatjira?
Christopher Page’s lighting is gloriously atmospheric and the depiction of the rotating windmill is fabulous. When a helicopter flies overhead at one point in the show, we can hear, feel and smell it.
This is a love story about defying society’s conventions, and a story of heroism and tragedy that fails – or does it?
Four stars
Windmill Baby
By David Milroy
Performed by Roxanne McDonald
Directed by Kylie Farmer ( Kaarljilba Kaardn)
Set and Costume Designer: Ruby Langton-Batty
Lighting Designer: Christopher Page
Composer and Sound Designer: Michael Toisuta
Assistant Director: Jada Alberts
Dramaturg: Irma Woods
Running time: 75 mins (approx) no interval
Belvoir Street Theatre, Downstairs
July 28 – August 21
