Seven Deadly Gins reaches stage after extraordinary 20-year journey
Yvette Walker’s Seven Deadly Gins finally reaches the stage in Darwin after a remarkable 20-year journey shaped by survival and Indigenous storytelling.
A deeply personal Australian play more than 20 years in the making has finally reached the stage, bringing together a predominantly Indigenous female creative team to tell a story of trauma, family, humour and survival.
Yvette Walker's Seven Deadly Gins is receiving its world premiere at Brown's Mart Theatre in Darwin. At its centre is Magenta, a woman returning to the Gulf and discovering that going home also means confronting memories and family truths she has spent years trying to leave behind.
Yvette draws on her own extraordinary story
Walker has drawn partly on her own experiences of childhood homelessness, abuse and resilience, although Seven Deadly Gins is not simply an autobiography.
The writer has spent more than two decades developing the work, with the long road to its premiere even taking it overseas. The script was previously named first runner-up for the New Australian Play Award in New York before eventually finding its way back to Australia's Northern Territory.
Walker is now artistic director and co-chief executive of Brown's Mart, but initially hesitated over programming her own work at the theatre. Its eventual premiere brings together a largely Northern Territory-based team of Indigenous women, with acclaimed performers and theatre-makers Shari Sebbens and Ursula Yovich co-directing.
That representation matters to the production. The women behind the play have spoken about the importance of Indigenous stories being created and performed in Darwin, particularly for younger First Nations audiences who rarely get to see their own communities reflected on stage in this way.
Pain isn't the whole story
Despite the difficult experiences behind it, Seven Deadly Gins does not define Magenta solely through trauma. Humour, family bonds, love and resilience are woven through a story ultimately concerned with what surviving can look like.
That makes its 20-year journey particularly fitting. Walker has carried the story through different stages of her own life before finally watching actors bring it to a Darwin audience.
Seven Deadly Gins runs at Brown's Mart Theatre until 17 October, with tickets priced from A$24 to A$48.
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Image credit: Break’n Barrierz
