It’s been three decades since The 7 Stages of Grieving first shook up Australian theatre, and this July, Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company is giving the landmark production its WA debut, by an Aboriginal company with a fierce, all-female creative team at the helm.
Running from July 2nd to 12th at Subiaco Arts Centre and intentionally timed with NAIDOC Week, this searing, soulful hour of theatre doesn’t tiptoe around the hard stuff. Instead, it marches right into it, finding power, pride, and even joy on the other side of grief, identity, loss of Country and systemic violence.
Co-written by cultural powerhouses Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman, The 7 Stages of Grieving is told through a single narrator across 23 vivid vignettes, tracing the seven phases of Aboriginal history through lived experience: Dreaming, Invasion, Genocide, Protection, Assimilation, Self-Determination, and Reconciliation. The stories are personal, political, and deeply human, with humour and heartbreak woven in in equal measure.
Under the direction of Yirra Yaakin’s Artistic Associate Bobbi Henry, the one-woman show is performed by Shahnee Hunter and Shontane Farmer in alternating shows, with an all-female creative team behind them. As Henry puts it, “The 7 Stages of Grieving is an inspiring story of hope and resilience in the face of adversity. It’s very exciting to have an all-female team of amazing creatives, who encourage and support each other in all aspects of the creative process.”
Add to that Hunter’s comic brilliance (she recently won the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Deadly Funny competition), and you’ve got a show that moves between gut-punching truth and perfectly-timed humour.
It’s short (60 minutes, to be exact), sharp, and essential viewing, especially for those who’ve never seen it staged. And with AUSLAN, audio described, and tactile tour performances across the season, it’s as accessible as it is affecting.
Tickets start at $50.00, or $30.00 for under 18s. Book now at yirrayaakin.com.au to secure tickets to the show that you’ll carry with you long after the lights come up.
