Ned Kelly’s Mother Review by Sean Paisley Collins

29/10/18

Ned Kelly’s Mother is the remarkable albeit incredibly tragic true story of Ellen Kelly’s journey to Australia and her trials and tribulations thereafter. It is a beautiful and at times brutal exploration of a mother's struggle to survive in an increasingly hostile and totally unforgiving environment. It’s a play about love, loyalty and justice, what they mean and why they are important to those who need them the most.

Neil Cole certainly has historical theatre with a bit of music thrown in for good measure down to a fine art. It is lovely to see his own personal interpretation of this incredible woman and her extraordinary life. It is clear that Neil is not only very passionate about this subject matter but he has also done a great deal of research to keep it as authentic as possible. He wonderfully contextualises the piece historically without it seeming like a lecture or a history lesson. The writing flows throughout and there is a great contrast between the happy go lucky lovable Irish lady to the broken and alone mother who is at the end of her tether. Perhaps the most important part of the writing of this piece is just how much light the playwright sheds on the personal experiences of the life of this largely unknown Australian heroine. It is educational and emotive in equal measure. Passionate and playful one moment and then totally raw and brutal the next.

Any director who can grab a piece of writing and make it sing is someone to be admired in my book. This is particularly difficult with any solo performance. Michelle Swann definitely achieved this with Ned Kelly’s Mother. Her choices were simple but effective. The performer seemed to travel from one section of the piece to another with a natural flow. Whether it be a heightened moment of physicality or a very deliberate choice of timing - the direction clearly helped take the actor’s performance to the next level and really brought out the nuances of the character’s story to make it more compelling for the audience. I should briefly mention at this point that Michelle also did the lighting and this really helped to set the changes in mood of the emotional journey of the play.

The first thing that was immediately apparent when Ellen Kelly (played by Nikky Langford) came onto stage is that this woman has lived. Nikky’s physicality, characterisation and voice all seemed to convey that Ellen was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. You really got a strong sense that this mother has been through a lot and has somehow lived to tell the tale. Ellen Kelly was an incredibly stark woman but she was also a very passionate one and Nikky balances these two sides to her quite well. Crossing from a cheeky and playful lady to a more haggard and broken one with seemingly little effort. Her performance for the most part was quite believable and grounded. However there were some moments where I felt she could have gone a bit deeper in terms of the emotional depth of her characters journey. It’s always tough playing a real person or historical figure but Nikky managed to do a great job in bringing Ellen Kelly to life.

Romy Sweetman’s costuming was authentic and practical. Costuming is always a very underrated and undervalued part of the process of theatre making. This is especially difficult when costuming for a solo performance that needs to be from a very specific period in time. Ellen Kelly’s outfit was everything that it needed to be. It was homespun without being frumpy and had a lovely dignified quality that seemed very appropriate for a woman in her position. Small but effective alterations to the overall costume helped to convey the many different times in the characters life throughout the play. The soundscape provided by Leo Dale was subtle but very complimentary to the piece. It really made you feel that you were back in colonial times and helped to transport you back to the rough and ready Australian bushland of ‘Kelly Country’.

One of the most beautiful elements about this piece was the use of classic old folk songs that Nikky sang in order to help tell specific stories of Ellen Kelly’s life. Greg Franklin was the man responsible for the charming acoustic accompaniment which felt both personal and intimate, which is not an easy task with a recording. This was particularly special as Nikky worked with Greg and recorded him playing original versions of these all too familiar folk songs. This added another layer to the performance and really took the audience to another place which was rather magical. However if I’m honest, I did feel that there were probably a few too many songs and I think in this case, less is more. Partly as this would allow more story and emotional development for the character to explore with the audience and partly as this would have taken the pressure off the performer - as at times it felt like the amount of songs was not giving her as much time to breathe through the emotional ups and downs of her characters journey as she otherwise could.

All in all I found it to be a very informative and affecting piece of theatre. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Australian history or who has always wanted to know more about the infamous Kelly family and their extraordinary lives. This play is charming and heartbreaking in equal measure. Do yourself a favour and go and see it while you can, if for no other reason than to learn more about the unbelievable and untold true story of Ned Kelly’s Mother.

Ned Kelly’s Mother runs until the 4th of November at the MC Showroom in Prahran.