I had the pleasure of seeing this play at a matinee performance with an almost full audience of mostly seniors.
The writer (Declan Furber Gillick) states that "This is a play about an aboriginal man doing the wrong thing." He purposefully doesn't tell us which of the two aboriginal men, Jacky or Keith, he refers to, leaving us to make our own choice (if that's the right word).
The first thing seen is a well thought out and realistic stage which rotated to show three locations, a living room, a bar and an apartment room. The rotation changes throughout where seamless, carrying us from location to location with ease.
The story is set in an inner city suburb and follows Jacky (Ian (Moopa) Wilkes), a young aboriginal man who has done well for himself since moving to the city and starting a business. His younger brother Keith (Rueben Mongoo), a troubled young man, arrives from "the Mish" to crash on Jacky's couch. We find out that Keith is a bit of a sponger, unwilling to pull his weight around the apartment, leaving a mess everywhere. He has told Jacky that he will get his apprenticeship at the country town baker transferred so that he can continue it in the city. He does nothing and Jacky is frustrated at his laziness. Eventually Keith reveals that he was fired and has been lying about it - he was fired and lost the apprenticeship.
We meet Linda (Amy Mathews) and find out that she is big supporter of Jacky. She runs an indigenous community program and is holding an event to raise money for it. Jacky provides cultural dance performances and Linda helps he and Keith to find work.
We find out about Jacky's steady income as a "rent boy" and meet one of his clients Glenn (Steve Turner) who has a specific fetish which Jacky indulges.
When the fund-raising event that Linda has arranged loses it's main attraction, a local aboriginal family elder, she asks Jacky to lie and pretend to be a member of that family and speak on their behalf. Initially refusing he does eventually agree to the request.
The relationship between Jacky and Glenn comes to a surprising head when Glenn asks Jacky to play a submissive role with language that offends him, and us the audience.
The thinly veiled racism of both Glenn and Linda are eventually seen and Keith shows disgust with Jacky's decisions.
The performances of all four actors is highly believable and authentic, with each skilful performance adding to the tensions and story in such a way as to keep the audience entertained and intrigued as to what comes next.
Although at times my partner and I felt uncomfortable with the action on stage, we found the play enjoyable and entertaining, which from other audience member reactions seemed to be a unanimous feeling.
The co-directors (Kate Champion - Black Swan Theatre, and Maitland Schnaars - Yirra Yaakin) must be congratulated on their excellent casting and vision for the play. The assembled crew did a brilliant job to bring a seamless flow to a well written story.
Finally, the question of which of the two aboriginal men did “the wrong thing"; from this reviewers’ POV it remains unclear, perhaps it was neither, and it’s up to any audience members’ choice.
To book tickets to Jacky, please visit https://blackswantheatre.com.au/season-2026/jacky.
Photographer: Daniel J Grant
