The Lucky Country
Aug. 5th, 2023 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustI'm always excited for a new Australian musical. I first heard about The Lucky Country when I came across Vidya Makan's original song "Hugh Jackman" on YouTube, and found out she was writing an entire musical, in collaboration with Sonya Suares.
A year later, the musical premiered at the Hayes Theatre. Part of their mission has always been to support the development of new writers and composers of Australian musicals, so it was a perfect fit.
Anyway! I was keen to see it on the strength of that one song, which was about an Indian-Australian aspiring actor, being an extra in a Hugh Jackman movie. I love stories about the immigrant experience and cultural identity.
The Lucky Country is much broader than that. It's a series of songs that provide glimpses into the lives of different characters, who reflect a diverse population and diverse experiences. Some are funny, some are serious, some are heartbreaking. They make a kind of mosaic of who we are.
The origins
Makan explains in the program book:
I started writing this show in 2018. Its seed was my frustration around how Australian identity was reproduced and represented in our storytelling - specifically in musical theatre - and who that did or rather didn't include. I felt entitled to my sense of belonging to this land and this was unambiguously reflected in my working title at the time: "My Home Too".
When Suares joined the collaboration, she noticed that:
This is a work that wants to up-end and re-author the grand narratives of Australian national identity from the perspective of those on the margins.
Makan goes on to say:
We couldn't write about who we were and what was erased from our national consciousness without acknowledging the erasure inherent in the very idea of Australia itself. To lean into that territory was to write a work in conversation with First Nations artists. It is fair to say any sense of entitlement that may have fuelled this piece in its first iteration has long since given way to awe and deep humility.
Suares also says:
Because the very idea of Australia first and foremost requires the dispossession of First Nations peoples. We cannot heal what we will not face.
The cast is composed of three men and three women, who are Indigenous, Anglo, Asian, and African. (I had previously seen Vidya Makan as Catherine Parr in Six, and Milo Hartill as Jules in Fangirls. The others, including doubles, were new to me, but everyone was excellent: Joseph Althouse, Dyagula, Jeffrey Liu, Ava Madon, Kristal West, and Karlis Zaid.)
The songs
My favourite songs:
- "Growing a Garden" - The one about the woman trying to grow a garden, and remembering all the things her mother taught her. And then the garden fails. A punch in the heart. And she remembers her mother telling her, sometimes when you try to grow something, it fails, no matter how hard you try. But that's okay, and you can try again. Beautiful and hopeful.
- "Footy and Beer" - The one about the gay coworkers on their first date, having beers at the football. Both are hiding dire secrets: one is pretending he actually likes football, and the other is pretending he actually likes beer. (They eventually confess the truth, and decide to head off to a wine bar and a theatre show.) Cute and funny!
- "I Could Kill Ya" - The one about how everything in Australia can kill you, which is a tired cliche, but at least this song covered not just the wildlife, but the actual dangerous stuff like the sun, the surf, and the outback. Set up as a beauty pageant, with Miss Australia singing about how deadly she is. A crowd pleaser, performed with great energy and verve.
- "Hugh Jackman" - The previously mentioned song. The part that really hits home for me is:
I just wanted to tell stories
When I was young I watched Meryl Streep
It's not my fault that I was born
Into a world that doesn't look so deep
Every time that I audition
That's who I'm expected to be
Another brown girl
From the other side of the world
Couldn't I be in the story
A true blue Aussie who looks like me
My least favourite song:
- "Dusty Eski" - The one about the Australian singers pretending to be a Russian boyband and accidentally going viral. ("Dusty Eski" is the name of the boyband.) Just, why? Weird and kind of uncomfortable, with painful accents. (It was presumably written before the war. At the end of the song, the performers made a statement of solidarity with Ukraine.)
The other songs:
- "It's a New Day" - A young Indigenous boy dreams of being a footballer, and thinks of all those who have gone before him, in sport and in other fields.
- "Opening/The Lucky Country" - All the other characters are on a tall ship, excited about reaching the land of milk and honey, while the Indigenous characters stand conspicuously apart, watching them from the side of the stage.
- "Makin' My Way to Byron Bay" - A Chinese restaurant owner in Perth dreams of going on holiday to the nudist beaches at Byron Bay.
- "Thitharr Warra Country" - Two middle-aged Australians have a fling while on a Contiki tour, and discover they share a connection with the same place.
- "Kylie Jones" - A woman goes to a concert. A woman doesn't come back home. Hard hitting.
- "Times are Hard as Ever" - An old war veteran, retired on his bush property, reminisces about his life and gives wisdom to his son.
- "Rise/Finale" - Reprise, and welcome. Featuring the fantastic vocals of Kristal West, the yidaki playing of Billy McPherson, and an invitation to the audience to join in.
The Q&A
I was fortunate enough to attend the performance where they held a Q&A session afterwards with the cast and crew. It was pretty cool and informative. I wish there was a recording. Two comments I remember:
* The elephant in the room: that we're all the beneficiaries of dispossession. It's a hard conversation to have, but having the conversation is the only way forward.
* On plans to tour the production: if someone gives them the money, definitely!
The title
Backstory: "The Lucky Country is a 1964 book by Donald Horne. The title has become a nickname for Australia and is generally used favourably, although the origin of the phrase was negative in the context of the book." - Wikipedia
The quote itself: "Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck."
The title of the musical: In the poster art for The Lucky Country, the word "Lucky" has been written on top of another word, which has been mostly blacked out. However, it's still obvious that the original word was "Stolen".
A year later, the musical premiered at the Hayes Theatre. Part of their mission has always been to support the development of new writers and composers of Australian musicals, so it was a perfect fit.
Anyway! I was keen to see it on the strength of that one song, which was about an Indian-Australian aspiring actor, being an extra in a Hugh Jackman movie. I love stories about the immigrant experience and cultural identity.
The Lucky Country is much broader than that. It's a series of songs that provide glimpses into the lives of different characters, who reflect a diverse population and diverse experiences. Some are funny, some are serious, some are heartbreaking. They make a kind of mosaic of who we are.
The origins
Makan explains in the program book:
I started writing this show in 2018. Its seed was my frustration around how Australian identity was reproduced and represented in our storytelling - specifically in musical theatre - and who that did or rather didn't include. I felt entitled to my sense of belonging to this land and this was unambiguously reflected in my working title at the time: "My Home Too".
When Suares joined the collaboration, she noticed that:
This is a work that wants to up-end and re-author the grand narratives of Australian national identity from the perspective of those on the margins.
Makan goes on to say:
We couldn't write about who we were and what was erased from our national consciousness without acknowledging the erasure inherent in the very idea of Australia itself. To lean into that territory was to write a work in conversation with First Nations artists. It is fair to say any sense of entitlement that may have fuelled this piece in its first iteration has long since given way to awe and deep humility.
Suares also says:
Because the very idea of Australia first and foremost requires the dispossession of First Nations peoples. We cannot heal what we will not face.
The cast is composed of three men and three women, who are Indigenous, Anglo, Asian, and African. (I had previously seen Vidya Makan as Catherine Parr in Six, and Milo Hartill as Jules in Fangirls. The others, including doubles, were new to me, but everyone was excellent: Joseph Althouse, Dyagula, Jeffrey Liu, Ava Madon, Kristal West, and Karlis Zaid.)
The songs
My favourite songs:
- "Growing a Garden" - The one about the woman trying to grow a garden, and remembering all the things her mother taught her. And then the garden fails. A punch in the heart. And she remembers her mother telling her, sometimes when you try to grow something, it fails, no matter how hard you try. But that's okay, and you can try again. Beautiful and hopeful.
- "Footy and Beer" - The one about the gay coworkers on their first date, having beers at the football. Both are hiding dire secrets: one is pretending he actually likes football, and the other is pretending he actually likes beer. (They eventually confess the truth, and decide to head off to a wine bar and a theatre show.) Cute and funny!
- "I Could Kill Ya" - The one about how everything in Australia can kill you, which is a tired cliche, but at least this song covered not just the wildlife, but the actual dangerous stuff like the sun, the surf, and the outback. Set up as a beauty pageant, with Miss Australia singing about how deadly she is. A crowd pleaser, performed with great energy and verve.
- "Hugh Jackman" - The previously mentioned song. The part that really hits home for me is:
I just wanted to tell stories
When I was young I watched Meryl Streep
It's not my fault that I was born
Into a world that doesn't look so deep
Every time that I audition
That's who I'm expected to be
Another brown girl
From the other side of the world
Couldn't I be in the story
A true blue Aussie who looks like me
My least favourite song:
- "Dusty Eski" - The one about the Australian singers pretending to be a Russian boyband and accidentally going viral. ("Dusty Eski" is the name of the boyband.) Just, why? Weird and kind of uncomfortable, with painful accents. (It was presumably written before the war. At the end of the song, the performers made a statement of solidarity with Ukraine.)
The other songs:
- "It's a New Day" - A young Indigenous boy dreams of being a footballer, and thinks of all those who have gone before him, in sport and in other fields.
- "Opening/The Lucky Country" - All the other characters are on a tall ship, excited about reaching the land of milk and honey, while the Indigenous characters stand conspicuously apart, watching them from the side of the stage.
- "Makin' My Way to Byron Bay" - A Chinese restaurant owner in Perth dreams of going on holiday to the nudist beaches at Byron Bay.
- "Thitharr Warra Country" - Two middle-aged Australians have a fling while on a Contiki tour, and discover they share a connection with the same place.
- "Kylie Jones" - A woman goes to a concert. A woman doesn't come back home. Hard hitting.
- "Times are Hard as Ever" - An old war veteran, retired on his bush property, reminisces about his life and gives wisdom to his son.
- "Rise/Finale" - Reprise, and welcome. Featuring the fantastic vocals of Kristal West, the yidaki playing of Billy McPherson, and an invitation to the audience to join in.
The Q&A
I was fortunate enough to attend the performance where they held a Q&A session afterwards with the cast and crew. It was pretty cool and informative. I wish there was a recording. Two comments I remember:
* The elephant in the room: that we're all the beneficiaries of dispossession. It's a hard conversation to have, but having the conversation is the only way forward.
* On plans to tour the production: if someone gives them the money, definitely!
The title
Backstory: "The Lucky Country is a 1964 book by Donald Horne. The title has become a nickname for Australia and is generally used favourably, although the origin of the phrase was negative in the context of the book." - Wikipedia
The quote itself: "Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck."
The title of the musical: In the poster art for The Lucky Country, the word "Lucky" has been written on top of another word, which has been mostly blacked out. However, it's still obvious that the original word was "Stolen".
