Bright World

Andrea James and Elise Hearst are the descendants of important history makers. They’re also the writers of Bright World, a cross-cultural collaboration by theatre company, ARTHUR.

The play is about William Cooper, an Aboriginal activist who led a deputation to the front door of Melbourne’s German Embassy in protest against the mounting Nazi persecution of European Jews.

“I had the idea of writing the story about Cooper’s protest in parallel with my grandparents’ story and I pitched it to ARTHUR. I made it really clear that I didn’t want to write it on my own, I needed an Aboriginal person to help me tell the story accurately,” Hearst told Milk Bar Mag.

Hearst approached James to see if she was interested in co-writing the play. To Hearst’s surprise, James told her that Cooper was actually one of her ancestors. Both writers had an invested interest in telling Cooper’s story. The story was done honestly and courageously; it was a modest and inspirational tribute to all he had done for so many communities.

Bright World switches between narratives: it tells Cooper’s story, the story of Hearst’s grandfather, who was a Holocaust survivor, and the story of how the two writers of the play came together. This last narrative was particularly interesting, as it depicted an awkward and at times confrontational relationship. They debated about the oppression each of their ancestors had faced, and whose was more severe. They debated about the political correctness of a white person playing an Aboriginal character. Their relationship was, for the lack of a better word, weird, and one that James admits, is still “forming”.

Both James and Hearst play themselves, however would be open to seeing other actors take over. “I would like Deborah Mailman to play me. I’d like to see it, it would be really interesting,” says James. There are five actors in the show, all of which play numerous characters, of different genders, ages and cultural identities. The three other actors, Kevin Kiernan-Molloy, Shari Sebbens and Guy Simon, wear red basketball shorts and change between characters by changing tee shirt. These changes are done really quickly, sometimes right in front of the audience.

Kiernan-Molloy says to change between characters, he alters his voice or physicality. “Because we don’t have time to go off stage and psychologically adjust, we just have to use physical triggers, having a way of standing that’s different to another character for example,” he says.

Simon, who plays Cooper as a young boy and an old man, says he struggled not to use obvious physical traits to depict these different age groups. “My instinct as an actor is to act like a little boy or act like an old man, but that would have just made fun of Cooper. You have to honour the character’s thoughts and what they stood for,” he says.

While the play spans numerous decades, showcases lots of different stories and people and gives a behind the scenes look at its creation, it doesn’t feel rushed or over the top. “There’s so much information in the play, we just wanted to give you guys the information as quickly as possible,” says Sebbens.

Bright World depicts these historical events honestly and accurately, or as James says, as best they could. “As much as you want to tell the story accurately, it’s theatre and we’re on a basketball court,” she says.

Bright World 
Theatre Works, 14 Acland Street, St Kilda
Wednesday, April 13–Saturday, April 30
theatreworks.org.au