Theatre: The Man From Mukinupin

The musical play, The Man From Mukinupin, included subjects that until that time were rarely aired in public – the treatment of the Aboriginal population by white settlers and the degradation of the land by rural activities – and some people feared there would be a backlash against the show when it premiered in Perth.

But The Man From Mukinupin won critical and popular acclaim and is regarded worldwide as one of the best Australian plays.

It certainly has appeal for first-year acting students at Hunter TAFE’s Regional Institute of Performing Arts who are appearing in a production at Newcastle’s Civic Playhouse from November 27 to 29.

Many of them grew up in rural areas, so they are familiar with the characters and attitudes shown.

The fictional Mukinupin is a small town outside the long rabbit-proof fence that was built in Western Australia to prevent well-grassed agricultural areas being invaded by destructive rabbit hordes.

The action takes place between 1912 and 1920 and shows how the community is affected by World War I, especially two brothers who join the army and fight on the Western Front.

The characters are initially seen as either daytime citizens who go about their business legally and with decorum or others who come out at night and engage in activities such as boozing and, in the case of many of the males, having illicit sex.

But, as the tale develops, the day and night people are seen to be not so black and white.

A storekeeper who is a lay preacher is revealed to have led a massacre of Aborigines living along the creek outside the town. And a young man who is regarded as a no-hoper drunkard shows his heroism while fighting in the European war campaign.

Two young women are revealed to be half sisters.

One is Polly Perkins, the pretty daughter of the town’s general store owner, Eek. The other is Lily, generally known as Touch of the Tar, a half-Aboriginal woman who was fathered by Eek when he slept with her mother.

While the Mukinupin residents generally ignore the edge-of-town Lily, she is shown to be a woman of considerable talent, and caring for those who need support.

Jamahla Lardner Barron, who plays Lily, is Aboriginal and she has found that 35 years after the play was first staged some people still have the attitudes towards the indigenous population that are shown in the work.

Alison Winship, the show’s Polly, sees Lily as under-valued by those around her.

Brendon Harris is cast as another of Mukinupin’s fringe dwellers, the girls’ uncle, Zeek. 

Zeek is a star gazer and water diviner, though he rarely has luck in finding water resources.

The trio are impressed by Harry Tuesday, the town’s heavy drinking young man who wins a Victoria Cross when he gets away from the often small-minded community and joins others in the war effort.

Alison Winship concedes that on one hand she hates Harry because of his initial behaviour, but on another level he shows more understanding for Lily than other townspeople.

The Man From Mukinupin has a real-life flavour, with laughter and brightness alternating with darker moods. And the 13 songs, with lyrics by Dorothy Hewett and music by Jim Cotter, offer an engaging mix, with romantic ballads alongside lively song-and-dance numbers and wistful looks at life.        

The other cast members include Christopher Henderson and Madelyn Lardner as Eek Perkins and his wife, Edie, Nathan Ham and Mason Kemp as brothers Harry and Jack Tuesday, Samantha Lambert and Isla Mayenschein as former employees of the J.C. Williamson theatre company who now operate a clothing store, Daniel Healy as a travelling salesman, Jake Fox and Sharnee Lawrence as operators of a touring theatre company, Tayla-Jade Jowett as a farm-owning widow, Matt Gibb as a flasher, Jacob Agius as the tale’s narrator, and Stephen Thomson, James Macpherson and Brian Hatfield in various roles. RIPA acting teacher David Brown directs.