Type – Energetic, Joyous, Empowering
If you liked – Baker Boy, Kylie Minogue, Diverse Storytelling, Working: A Musical
The Lucky Country: See Australia differently in this brand new musical that has the potential of being iconic
Australia is a ‘Lucky Country’, boasting a universal healthcare system, a strong welfare safety net and a government that tries to do right. We also have a strong sense of community with most truly valuing diversity, and despite the natural disasters and poisonous wildlife, we are safe and well cared for. Australia has been referred to as ‘The Lucky Country’ since Donald Hume first used the phrase in 1964. It has come to represent an idealistic attitude to Australia and has been co-opted politically. The Lucky Country confronts the dark past of Australia by challenging the narrative through musical numbers exploring different lived Australian experiences. All thirteen songs in the musical are original, but pay homage to iconic Australian artists, including Baker Boy, The Seekers, and Kylie Minogue.
The piece opens with a striking musical number performed by Garret Lyon with lyrics and musical influences that pay deep homage to Indigenous rapper Baker Boy. The vocals of Lyon are impressive, particularly the ability to shift suddenly between the traditional formalities of musical theatre and the improvised nature of rap. Audience members were enticed to listen into the poetic rhymes, which painted a picture of connected inclusivity, and the bar was set for the talent that would come after.
A Set in Lieu Of
In lieu of a traditional set backdrop, a scrim and a projector are used. Projected onto the scrim are transforming backdrop designs with each design depicting a location, such as a beach or a school. Scene changes are creative animated transitions, such as when a previous design is incorporated into the next as a painting with much detail being incorporated into each design – if you look closely, you will be able to identify some hidden jokes and gaffes. During songs idolising the Australian dream, the background designs are painted with bright colours, but during confronting scenes, darker colours and entrapping symbolism are incorporated. Artistically, the designs were quaint and a bit on the nose, though I did find myself fixated throughout.
The Body of The Lucky Country
The body of the musical is focused on the idealistic portrayal of Australia as “The Lucky Country”, with numbers focused on the whitewashed portrayal of Australian history taught in schools, and the glamorisation of the First Fleet in the constructions of monuments honouring the perpetrators of invasion, whilst atrocities against Indigenous populations were being perpetrated. In a classroom taught by the belting voice of Naarah, The Lucky Country also confronts us with the most horrific truths in the Australian past that are not taught in the whitewashed version of history that’s previously been fed to our youths.
The Lucky Country offers stories from first and subsequent generation migrants to Australia, with songs performed by Jefferey Liu, Phoenix Jackson Mendoza, Vidya Makan and Karlis Zaid. Restaurants, community gardens and music groups create ethnic micro-communities where connection and sharing culture take place. Many second and third generation migrants are caught between two ports, the Australian and the home country. The audience watches as knowledge is preserved through the passing of generations with the song ‘Growing a Garden’, but also as knowledge is lost through the song ‘Hugh Jackman’. I found a sense of peace in the lyrics, as I share lived experience between both.
The final musical number explores truth, reconciliation and need for a treaty with Indigenous peoples. In a final spectacle, we are treated to a bold solo Yidaki performance by Billy Mcpherson. The lyrics reclaim the Stolen Generation and preserve culture in resistance to the attempts to erase it. Verses are sung in the language of country, keeping culture alive to Mcpherson’s Yidaki artistry. As the scrim falls, the energy of the space becomes a cataclysmic nucleus. Audience members began to stand as to immerse themselves as a soft strobe and smoke machine evoke a thunderstorm on the moon.
Is The Lucky Country Worth Seeing in Melbourne?
Australia is amongst the most multicultural countries in the world. The Lucky Country tells stories of migrant Australians and, like many descendants of Australian migrants, food, crops and language play an integral part in keeping a sense of cultural identity. I only picked up phrases of the languages my grandparents were more confident in speaking. Australian migration happened in waves, coinciding with cataclysmic historical events, in a continuing cycle. The ongoing Ukraine-Russia war brings the next generation of migrants. For me, this connection to migrants connected The Lucky Country to musical groups such as Dustyesky, a group born out of the need to connect and directly confront the audience with a message of peace wherever you are. So too does The Lucky Country ultimately want us to bridge a gap towards peace.
There is no doubt The Lucky Country is essential attendance right now in Melbourne. It certainly has the potential to become a future classic, with the prospect even of becoming iconic.
Tickets and Practical Info for The Lucky Country in Melbourne 🎟️
Tickets: https://www.mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/whats-on/other-companies/the-lucky-country/
Melbourne Theatre Company: The Lawler, CBD, Victoria
Cast: Naarah, Jeffrey Liu, Garret Lyon, Vidya Makan, Phoenix Jackson Mendoza, Anusha Thomas, Tainga Toa and Karlis Zaid
Music and Lyrics: Vidya Makan in collaboration with Sonya Suares
Direction: Sonya Suares
Music Direction and Orchestrations: Heidi Maguire
Choreography: Amy Zhang
Cultural Collaboration: Chenoa Deemal
