Playwright: Sally Morgan
Director: Andrew Ross
Cast: Theresa Creed, Dot Collard, Jaylene Riley, Faith Clayton, Jack Charles, Wendy Strehlow, Djunawong Stanley Mirindo, Robin Cuming
Theatre: Black Swan and MTC at the Russell Street Theatre
Synopsis: An Aboriginal woman befriends an Irish woman in hospital
Rating: *
This is a light comedy about the friendship formed between two women from very different backgrounds, one Aboriginal (Theresa Creed as Rosy Snow), the other Irish (Faith Clayton as Miss Murphy).
They drink gin and dance together, get visited by Rosy's friends and relatives, and cope together with the bitter legacy of Rosy's treatment at the hands of white authorities.
The main role in Sistergirl, Rosy Snow, was to have been played by Barbara Henry. When she fell ill a week before opening night in Melbourne, Theresa Creed took over.
Under the circumstances, Creed has done remarkably well to create her strong, rambunctious character.
Her scenes with the various hospital visitors, particularly the rascal romancer Tommy (Jack Charles), rollick along with a relaxed energy.
Sally Morgan's script, however, is hit and miss. The drunken charm with which the two women throw back gin from a bottle they've hidden from the stern nurse Kay (Wendy Strehlow) tires quickly.
The scenes in which Rosy confronts the white administrator who took away her daughter many years before have a jagged anger, but fail to attain their potential dramatic stature.
Overall, Sistergirl does well given its major last minute cast change. It is quaintly amusing in parts but basically undercooked and significantly inferior to other works directed by Ross such as No Sugar and Bran Nue Dae.
Jason Romney works on information law at Australian solicitors Price Brent, writes a weekly column about the Internet and World Wide Web for The Age newspaper, is theatre critic for the Herald Sun newspaper and co-hosts a live computer radio show on 102.7 3RRR-FM on Mondays at 7.00pm.
His e-mail address is jromney@werple.mira.net.au