Yorta Yorta/Gunaikurnai playwright Andrea James’ The Black Woman of Gippsland is a fiercely resonant and beautifully wrought piece of theatre that pulses with urgency, grief, defiance and healing.
With a powerhouse cast led by the magnetic Ursula Yovich and a visionary creative team, this production is a bold and unflinching reckoning with the legacy of colonial violence — and a testament to the strength of Blak matriarchal resilience.
Based on real events and set on James’ grandmother’s country, the play references the legendary figure of the ‘White Woman of Gippsland’ – a colonial myth that has circulated since the 1840s. The story centres on a white woman who was said to have been captured and held by the Gunaikurnai people.
Despite a lack of evidence, this story was used to justify violent punitive expeditions against Indigenous communities. By interrogating these stories, James not only challenges their truth but also amplifies Indigenous voices and perspectives that have long been ignored or overwritten.
Ursula Yovich is formidable as Auntie Rochelle, a woman whose spirit carries the ancestral pain of dispossession but refuses to be broken. Her performance is layered with emotional depth: sharp and unsparing when calling out historical injustices, yet profoundly tender in moments of connection with her niece, Jacinta, played with sensitivity by Chenoa Deemal. Their relationship forms the emotional core of the piece – one that explores intergenerational trauma and survival with unflinching honesty and compassion.
Zach Blampied in the duel roles of Kyle and Willambulung brings a complex tension to the story as a young man caught between silence and complicity, while Ian Bliss as the police sergeant and the PhD supervisor embodies the institutional weight of authority with unnerving realism. Their interactions with Rochelle and Jacinta never fall into caricature – James’ direction ensures nuance and ambiguity in every confrontation.
Romanie Harper’s set design of three defined areas dominate the stage: the interior of a caravan, a hotel room, and a police station, which also doubles as Jacinta’s supervisor’s office. Rhian Hinkley’s AV adds another layer to the storytelling featuring ghostly reflections and cultural mapping. As the layers of truth are peeled away, elements of the set are dramatically removed to reveal a final vision of beauty.
James Henry’s composition and sound design, in collaboration with Gunnai Elder Wayne Thorpe, drawing on 1904 colonial records, and featuring the haunting vocals of Yovich, combined with Brent Watkins choreographic performance (joined on opening night by Phillip Egan, due to injury), bring cultural agency to the work.
Andrea James has created something vital, confrontational and deeply human. The Black Woman of Gippsland is a play that demands to be seen and heard.
The Black Woman of Gippsland
Southbank Theatre, The Sumner, Southbank Boulevard, Southbank
Performance: Friday 9 May 2025
Season continues to 31 May 2025
Information and Bookings: www.mtc.com.au
Images: Chenoa Deemal, Zach Blampied and Brent Watkins in The Black Woman of Gippsland – photo by Pia Johnson | Ursula Yovich and Chenoa Deemal in The Black Woman of Gippsland – photo by Pia Johnson