The 7 Stages of Grieving

Scene 12: Aunty Grace

Grace, an expatriate aunt who moved to England and lost touch with her roots, is introduced in a soliloquy. A further comment on cultural dislocation, Grace returns for the funeral and laments how much she has missed. After a visit to the grave, Grace is said to have emptied her suitcase and filled it with soil; symbolically leaving behind the trappings of new-world ideas and packing red earth into the suitcase in an attempt to restore culture and country.

Scene 12 Quotes

‘She wasn’t going to stay with the rest of us. That was very clear.’ Scene 12

‘Dad said she was stuck up and wasn’t really family.’ Scene 12

‘She doesn’t have much luggage.’ Scene 12

The woman begins to fill the suitcase with red earth from the grave.
‘Crying, at last crying.’ Scene 12

Scene 13: Mugshot

Scene 13 shifts dramatically from the emotive to the detached as a court report covering the facts surrounding a death in custody is read. A factual account of a traumatic event, it contains both the broad issue of Indigenous deaths in custody and specifically the real-life case that involved Daniel Yocke, a Murri dancer. The seriousness of the issue is at the same time found in the factual tone but lost in the context. The issue needs reporting but how can the loss of a life be summed up in a neat report.

The report outlines how a group of youths were drinking in a park, then subsequently arrested and transported to the watch house. The youth in question arrived in a serious condition and police called an ambulance, emblematising the passing of blame. The youth was taken to hospital but was unable to be resuscitated. There is a brief section about the struggle for life that appears to be improvised and not directly from the report. This reminds the audience of the sanctity of life.

Scene 13 Quotes

‘The group was followed by Domrow and Harris …’ Scene 13

‘Harris made a series of calls on the police radio seeking assistance …’ Scene 13

The woman finally breaks out.
‘People called him Boonie!’ Scene 13

‘The people at the watch house didn’t know what to do so they called the ambulance.’ Scene 13

‘They took him to the Royal Brisbane Hospital pounding and pushing his limp body.’ Scene 13

Scene 14: March

The Woman recounts her experiences at an Aboriginal protest march in Musgrave Park in Brisbane. Musgrave Park had its own Aboriginal Tent Embassy and has been the site of several protest marches over Indigenous sovereignty. In this instance, the woman recalls how as a family they had silently marched but the media had reported the instance as defiant and traffic stopping. A glib comparison to other traffic stopping events, such as a Christmas parade, shows media bias and the common reaction to protests.

Scene 14 Quotes

‘Thousands … stretched out … Were not fighting, were grieving.’ Scene 14

‘If you feel like fighting, if you feel like yelling, grab it in your hand and show your grief, lift it up and show the world.’ Scene 14

‘We come from a long tradition of storytelling. Is this the only way we can get our story told.’ Scene 14

‘Don’t tell me we’re not fighting! Don’t tell me we don’t fight most of our lives.’ Scene 14

Scene 15. Bargaining

In a silent, mime-like piece, the actor grieves for the loss of land by hammering two pieces of wood together as a cross. As she places it next to the grave the words ‘For Sale’ can be seen. This challenges mainstream society to consider what may be lost as a result of capitalistic ways. From colonialism to modern economic society, Indigenous people and lands have paid a price. The question is how much? Can white people put a price on progress if that price is land rights or Indigenous lives. There is a dichotomy between the sacredness of land in pre-colonial times and desecration of the land after white settlement.

Scene 15 Quote

‘What is it worth?’ Scene 15

Scene 16: Home Story

Home story examines the importance of cultural customs of moiety, totem and skin names. In a story that was told to her as part of a line of inter-generational women passing information, the character explains the intricacy of traditional systems of kinship including family and marriage. An analogy is shown through piles of dust representing clan, family and moiety obligations. A question is put to the audience to imagine if one group were to be removed from this balanced arrangement, while an aggressive sweeping away of one portion ends the scene leaving the audience aware of the impact of the atrocities that have occurred in history.

Scene 16 Quotes

‘Now I want to tell you a story. I’ll tell it how it was told to me.’ Scene 16

‘This pile here is the land, the source, the spirit, the core of everything. Are you with me on that?’ Scene 16

‘And this one here is about culture, family, song, tradition, dance. Have you got that?’ Scene 16

‘Now imagine when the children are taken away from this. Are you with me?’ Scene 16

‘The woman flays her arm through the remaining large pile and circle destroying it.’ Scene 16

Scene 17. Story of a Brother

This monologue, retelling the protagonist’s experiences relating to her brother’s arrest, emphasises the cycle of crime and discrimination which can begin with a small misdemeanour. The outlined cycle that began with a small incident and escalated is accompanied by the idea of shame, an element that may be misunderstood by white audiences. Shame is an integral part of Indigenous society. The cycle starts with a fine which cannot be paid, then more trouble, no money for car registration, more trouble, despair, drinking etc., ending in a family wondering where this will end.

Scene 17 Quotes

‘… some other black lad had done something wrong … all them Murri boys look alike.’ Scene 17

‘So with my brother’s sense of justice… he pushed the police officer.’ Scene 17

‘Shame.’ Scene 17

‘They charged him – as if he wasn’t charged enough.’ Scene 17

‘But when Dad went to pick him up from the watchhouse in the middle of the night the shame was palpable.’ Scene 17

‘This is how it starts, the cycle.’ Scene 17

‘No matter how clean our clothes are. No matter how tidy we keep our house .. how hard we work … we are black.’ Scene 17

‘The story hasn’t finished yet.’ Scene 17

Scene 18: Gallery of Sorrow

Linking to the title and reminding the audience of the structure of the play, a series of images are projected with the theme of the Aboriginal phases of history. A contemporary theory that was adopted to show the impact of colonialism the phases include: Dreaming, Invasion, Genocide, Protection, Assimilation, Self-determination, and Reconciliation.

Scene 19. Suitcase Opening

After painting herself, the actor opens the suitcase and scatters the red soil and family photographs across the floor. Images of land and portraits are projected to symbolise the interconnectivity of people and country. The actor leaves and the images continue showing a rich history of people with an intense connection to time and place.

Scene 20. Wreck/Con/Silly/Nation

The actor returns and four words are projected: ‘Wreck’, ‘Con’, ‘Silly’ and ‘Nation’. A smart play on words that could phonetically resemble ‘reconciliation’. The words are considered in terms of history. The wreck or mess made by white arrival, the con or swindle perpetrated on the original inhabitants, and the contrast between silly pride and belonging to a nation.

Scene 20 Quotes

‘Boats ready for departure. If you don’t want to stay.’ Scene 20

‘My nation knows my identity. A sun, A land, A people, travelling.’ Scene 20

Scene 21: Everything Has Its Time

Following on from the previous scene, the actor addresses the audience conceding some people she knows would write it like that. The words are replaced with a single word ‘reconciliation’. Consideration is given to the fact that this is not just something to write, it is an action that needs to take place. ‘Everything has its time’ is uttered as she packs the suitcase again. The idea is invoked that reconciliation is not yet here, it is travelling, and will arrive at the right time, when people are ready.

Scene 21 Quotes

‘What does it mean when some people can’t even read or write the word?’ Scene 21

‘Everything has its time.’ Scene 21

Scene 22: Plea

The actor holds the suitcase and discusses with the audience that these are her stories, her people, her land, and that what has happened has caused so much grieving. She is concerned that with all the grieving, her heart is growing hard. Thoughts about grief and its need for expression frame the play as an act of storytelling, and she concedes when she cannot cry any longer that she can still perform. The suitcase is placed at the feet of the audience. A plea. What will they do with the grief? Will they join in? Will they act?

Scene 22 Quotes

‘You know there has always been this grieving.’ Scene 22

‘Grieving for our land, our families.’ Scene 22

‘I am scared my heart is hardening.’ Scene 22

‘These are my stories. These are my people’s stories. They need to be told.’ Scene 22

The woman places the suitcase down at the feet of the audience. (Scene 22)

Scene 23: Relief

The final scene returns to the beginning of the play. The woman looks up as if in gentle rain and exclaims she feels nothing, nothing, nothing. It gives a sense of the cyclic nature of grief. It also has a sense that after all the events discussed, all the grief, all the injustices described, little progress has been made. This is in contrast to later versions that ended with the scene ‘walking across bridges’, the reconciliation march of 2000 or other versions ending with the Rudd sorry speech. The original perhaps leaves the audience with less hope.

Scene 23 Quote

‘Nothing. I feel nothing.’ Scene 23