At a time when protests at universities across Australia are under scrutiny by politicians, playwright Kirsty Marillier’s Destiny – about the early days of student uprisings in apartheid South Africa – affirms that history can be changed on campuses of higher learning.
Set in the Natal region of South Africa, in a small town at the base of the Drakensberg mountain range, the play is centred on Della (played by Marillier), who has had to keep the household running after her mother died in childbirth with Della’s brother, Rocky (Gaz Dutlow).
Dad Fred (Patrick Williams) is still around, working long hours as a security guard, but he doesn’t look after himself and spends a lot of time talking to the photograph of his departed wife that hangs in the centre of the living room.
They are living a quiet life, far away from big cities like Johannesburg or Cape Town, keeping their heads down and avoiding attention from the police. It’s difficult enough when classified as “coloured” under apartheid, why make it any harder for themselves?
When old neighbour and school friend, Ezra Jones (Barry Conrad), arrives back in town after living outside of Cape Town to attend university, his political opinions alarm Della and intrigue Rocky and the family is set on a course to reckon with the political regime they live under.
The title Destiny conjures hope; the play is set in January 1976 and the Soweto uprising began in June of that year. It was a significant movement of students protesting the use of the Afrikaans in schools, a language the “coloured” population did not speak.
The word “destiny” also suggests a certainty in the trajectory of the play itself. Once the story is set in motion, the outcome feels not so much predictable as it is inevitable. Della, who was once in love with Ezra, wants him to stay around, but cannot risk associating with him.
Rocky, a teenage boy who has a crush on Ezra, is so intrigued by this young man; physically attractive with an urgent sense of what is right and wrong with the country. Ezra has written articles and essays and we soon learn how far he’s willing to go to have himself and the movement be heard.
The insight we get into this moment in South Africa’s history, centred around a small family far away from the fractious protest movements, is profoundly moving. Watching a family enjoying their lives is affirming even as the oppressors come closer and their family is quietly torn apart time and again.
Sophie Woodward’s set evokes mountainous terrain with steep ramps ascending from the house, at stage level, to the General Store above. The angularity also suggests the splintered society the story takes place in. While the family home is stable, everything else is off-kilter. The store is stocked with bottles, canned food and other essentials; a place of sustenance and also a spot for Ezra to hide out, so as not to risk the family home.
The costumes (also by Woodward) are simple, suggesting a family of limited means, but with dashes of colour that indicate a passion for life even if their reality is compared to living inside of bottle of soured milk.
Kelsey Lee’s lighting design undulates from warm yellows to stark whites. One scene, illuminated by swinging torch lights, is particularly ominous. Kelly Ryall’s sound design underscores a mounting tension, occasionally broken by joyous pop songs.
Marillier’s script is focused; sharp in design and execution. We are warmed to this family almost instantly and frightened for them quickly, too. The text also has clear allusions to classic family plays, like Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie – with the portrait of a parent hanging over proceedings, but also with a gentleman caller upsetting the carefully balanced family dynamics.
Her performance as Della is dynamic and you can feel the roiling tension between her and every other character: a prickly relationship with dad, classic sibling torment from her brother and the push-and-pull attraction with Ezra. Della is a very vocal character, but Marillier uses her physicality to show a character anchored in her beliefs and sometimes twisting herself around – uncomfortable in her body – when things spiral out of control.
Gaz Dutlow’s Rocky is wildly entertaining as the antagonistic little brother and wide-eyed follower of Ezra. Barry Conrad gives us an Ezra Jones that commands the space, even with that tinge of arrogance that drives Della crazy – both for good and bad.
Director Zindzi Okenyo keeps everything rolling along, creating striking images all across the expansive playing space. Sometimes smaller pieces get lost in the Sumner, but Okenyo allows this family drama to expand and fill every part of the richly layered set.
Late in the play, Cliff imparts a myth from the Khoisan people of Southern Africa. It’s the origin story of the stars in the sky: a strong-willed girl threw a handful of ashes from a dying fire into the sky – a light in the darkness to help guide the way.
It’s a subtle acknowledgement that Cliff knows his daughter has taken on a lot of family responsibility since his wife and her mother died. But it also suggests some hope for Della’s future, even if Cliff can’t see a way out of the current policy of segregation.
South Africans are the seventh largest immigrant population in Australia and it’s wonderful that the Melbourne Theatre Company has shepherded this particular piece from the diaspora to its main stage. It should resonate with local audiences not just because of student protests, but because the coloniser history of that country is not that much different to our own. First Nations people lived under apartheid here until the 1960s, even if it wasn’t named as such. And that difficult history continues to reverberate through both countries still.
In a way, Destiny feels in conversation with The Black Woman of Gippsland, which was on the same stage earlier this year. Two vital pieces of history that we should know, to understand each other and ourselves. Destiny is insightful and moving; capturing history and showing us how it reflects now.
Destiny
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, Southbank Boulevard, Southbank
Performance: Friday 22 August 2025
Season continues to 13 September 2025
Information and Bookings: www.mtc.com.au
Images: Barry Conrad and Kirsty Marillier in Destiny – photo by Pia Johnson | Kirsty Marilllier, Patrick Williams, Barry Conrad and Gaz Dutlow in Destiny – photo by Pia Johnson | Kirsty Marillier and Gaz Dutlow in Destiny – photo by Pia Johnson | Kirsty Marillier and Clare Chihambakwe in Destiny – photo by Pia Johnson
Review: Keith Gow