Review: At What Cost? A Must See Triumph For Perth

★★★★★

The Scoop At What Cost? Yirra Yarkin Theatre Company

When it comes to Aboriginality, who gets to decide your identity? Does it come down to the colour of your skin or the mob who raised you? Or is it just ‘a feeling’?

In Australian colonial history, Tasmania came as close as possible to genocide. From an estimated population of 4,000–10,000 before colonisation, by 1847 the Palawa population had shrunk to around 50 people relocated to Flinders Island.

Massacres, disease, dispossession and forced removals all contributed to this devastating decline. Yet many survived, most notably through the descendants of Aboriginal women and white sealers on the Bass Strait Islands.

Today, thousands identify as Palawa, with considerable effort devoted to reviving language and culture. The repatriation of ancestral remains has also become an important part of healing and reconciliation.

Nathan Maynard’s brilliant play At What Cost? explores these complex questions of identity and belonging through one family preparing for a significant cultural ceremony.

Boyd Mansell (Calen Tassone), a respected Palawa leader, lives with his pregnant wife Nala (Jessie Ward) on the sacred ancestral lands of Putalina (Oyster Cove). As preparations begin for the cremation of the repatriated remains of King Billy, Boyd’s cousin Daniel (Jarrad Inman) returns home.

Boyd has little patience for what he calls ‘tick-a-box’ Tasmanians who claim Palawa heritage simply by ticking a box on a form, rather than through community recognition. Fiercely protective of his culture, he fears these claims will dilute Palawa identity and divert resources from those who have maintained cultural connection.

Daniel is more open-minded, and when he begins a relationship with Gracie Hanson (Aimee Honor), a white PhD student researching King Billy and the colonial surgeon Dr Crowther, tensions begin to simmer. When Gracie reveals she has recently discovered a genetic connection to King Billy, sparks fly and family divisions deepen.

Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company delivers a powerful production of Maynard’s excellent script. Director Maitland Schnaars draws authentic, finely calibrated performances from the cast, allowing both the humour and heartbreak to emerge naturally.

The production never loses sight of the emotional stakes beneath the political arguments, making the central conflict feel deeply personal rather than purely ideological.

With the exception of a slightly clunky opening monologue by Boyd, delivered to his unborn child while Nala sits silently beside him, the play moves at a cracking pace, remaining utterly compelling and frequently hilarious.

Calen Tassone as Boyd has tremendous charisma and passion. He inhabits his character with a bold physicality and skilfully delivers the humour, intelligence and anger the role demands. His final monologue is utterly riveting and inspired the audience to spring to their feet in a thundering standing ovation at the end.

His chemistry with Jessie Ward as wife Nala is sexy, intelligent and fun, both of them riffing magnetically with the insanely well-written dialogue, which contains all the codas and in-jokes of a genuine relationship. Their comic timing is excellent, and there is a sense of ease between the actors that translates as a genuine affection, warmth and respect.

As Nala, Ward is wonderfully strong and grounded. Nala holds her own with Boyd – she challenges him and supports him in equal measure, and displays her own impressive leadership when the shit hits the proverbial fan.

Barefoot and dressed beautifully in an earthy, flowing brown dress which complements the curve of her pregnant belly (costumes by Matt McVeigh), she weaves a traditional basket to house King Billy’s remains and exudes an earthy archetypal feminine energy that beautifully complements the fire and vision of her husband.

Jarrad Inman performs Boyd’s cousin Daniel Mansell with a sly humour and cheeky sensibility. He’s a great foil to Boyd’s seriousness – more interested in sex and romance than culture.

His character is a well-drawn representation of young Aboriginal men who are not yet as politically engaged as their more mature counterparts. He’s a lot of fun, and his seduction of student Gracie is full of humour and sexiness.

Aimee Honor, as Gracie, traverses the complexity of her character with skill and nuance. This is the most morally ambiguous character who initially presents as a well-meaning, likeable hippy who then uses new age language (‘I don’t feel culturally safe’) to simultaneously attempt to claim an indigenous identity and weaponise her vulnerability.

The ambiguity of the character keeps the audience guessing at the validity of her claims. We sit uneasily on the fence, understanding Boyd’s outrage at her presence on his land but also wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt and consider her claim as Nala and Daniel do.

Special mention must go to the set by Matt McVeigh. It glows with warmth and beauty – the sandy floor offset by a line of trees that stand as totems to the ceremony about to take place, and a humble kitchen evokes a family home that is embedded in connection to country.

Warm ochre lighting by Matthew Erren completes the picture. The overall effect is of a sacred beauty, imbued with cultural significance. This is further enhanced by sound design by hip hop artist Dazastah, who introduces mesmeric indigenous chants at the start of the play, then drops some killer beats that raise the mysticism to a whole new level.

At What Cost? signals an impressive ascendancy by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company with Maitland Schnaars at the helm. It’s a bold, uncompromising play, delivered with skill, courage and full-throttled commitment to truth-telling and to bringing important First Nations stories to Perth audiences.

With excellent performances, writing, direction and production design, this is a play that deserves to sell out and win awards. Congratulations must go to the cast and crew for delivering such vital and important work.

At What Cost? is presented by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company and runs to 1 August at Subiaco Arts Centre. Main Auditorium, 180 Hamersley Road Subiaco WA 6008.

Tickets: https://www.artsculturetrust.wa.gov.au/venues/subiaco-arts-centre/whats-on/at-what-cost/

Website: https://yirrayaakin.com.au/production/at-what-cost/

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/yirra_yaakin/