Over the rainbow: Christine Anu, right, with Chenoa Deemal and Lillian Crombie in Rainbow’s End.
ERIN PEARSON
CHRISTINE Anu hopes her latest play will be a catalyst for political change.
As one of Australia’s most successful contemporary indigenous recording and stage artists, Anu said Rainbow’s End would highlight to audiences the lingering division between Aboriginal people and “the rest of Australia”.
She wanted the play to spark change to Australia’s “unacceptable” levels of discrimination.
“There were housing issues for aboriginal people in the 1950s and there are still housing issues now,” Anu said.
“Australia still has undertones of racism, society’s just got better at being more politically correct about it. Hopefully this play gets people talking about an era bygone.”
Anu initially found fame singing pop songs such as My Island Home before starring in Australian stage productions of Sapphires, Little Shop Of Horrors and Moulin Rouge.
Anu said she jumped at the chance to play on the three lead roles in Rainbow’s End, based on the experiences of three generations of Koori women in 1950s Australia.
The story is set in a shack on a Goulburn River floodplain in 1954 as Australia prepares for a royal visit, heightening emotional ties to the monarchy in the Menzies-era.
Directed by award-winning director Craig Ilott, the play intends to depict the optimistic spirit of the central characters as they strive to find their place in conservative, rural Australia.
The cast also includes film and television veteran Lillian Crombie and newcomer Chenoa Deemal.
Anu said she wanted the play to provide a forum for discussion on whether Australia’s treatment of Aboriginal people had changed.
“We have the baby boomer generation coming along saying they were kids in the 1950s and that they remember the historical events. We now want to educate the younger generations.”
The play, touring Australia, has been staged for thousands of VCE students studying drama.
Anu said she hoped Rainbow’s End could influence the country’s future leadership.
“We’re offering this to the next generation who will be the country’s contributing adults,” she said.
“We want to spark their interest.”
Rainbow’s End will be at Geelong Performing Arts Centre from Tuesday to May 21.
