Blak Cabaret

From creative producer Jason Tamiru and playwright Nakkiah Lui (Black Comedy) comes the tale of how fabulous diva Queen Constantina Bush (Kamahi Djordon King, with giggle-inducing moves) reigns over the land of Australia and its savage, white inhabitants, with her long-suffering assistant Nikki Ashby (who can seriously bust a move) in tow.

Constantina flips Australia’s history, from claiming this terra nullius, removing children, later apologising for it (but like, get over it already) and making white people prove they’re truly white in order to get benefits. Using an almost fable-like narrative – except with corny gags, smutty punch lines and pop song parodies – the story highlights the injustices experienced by Indigenous Australia by coming across as laughably ridiculous, until the breathtaking music performances between each scene make it clearer than ever that this is real shit that actually happened, and is still happening.  

At first this is jarring; going from hearing Constantina talk about her ‘moot’ to then having our eyes closed, chests tightening while listening to the powerful voices of Deline Briscoe, Kutcha Edwards and Emma Donovan singing in three different Australian Aboriginal languages (of what used to be hundreds, reminds Edwards), backed by Bart Willoughby (ex-Mixed Relations) on drums and keys. But soon, we adjust into the rhythm of jumping from absurd and hilarious skits to intensely poignant, beautiful songs – poems by Kevin Gilbert, protest songs – and back again. The production itself could be a little tighter, but seeing the musicians on stage laughing at the jokes, enjoying themselves, is worth a couple of dropped lines.

If you’re white (or a non-Indigenous person of colour) and find the race reversal elements confronting or antagonistic at all, you should stop and ask yourself why. This is not a sugar-coated cultural work to appease white guilt. This is the kind of art that Australia needs to fully embrace and champion.

Malthouse Theatre Forecourt to 22 Feb