Shipway finds theatre which inspires conversation is worth celebrating
Creating the space that takes people away from their phones and starts engaging them in the deeper meaning of why we are who we are is what drives one of Australia’s great theatre talents like Brittanie Shipway.
Entertainment
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Proud Gumbaynggirr and Turkish woman Brittanie Shipway says creating theatre that makes you think, creates a space for First Nations stories that celebrate an incredible culture, and not just focus on trauma of the past.
“I’m getting a little bit older and I’m really scared that if I have kids, they won’t have anything positive to attach to their identity – and I really do think that they should be proud of who they are and where they come from,” the actor, singer, writer, dramaturge, producer and passionate storyteller told Insider.
“And my Turkish heritage as well – and my Irish and my Scottish heritage – I think we need to give ourselves permission to celebrate our ancestors and the stories and the places we come from.”
Shipway, who is now based in Sydney’s west but grew up in the Blue Mountains and Penrith and is “inching her way further into the city”, is on her way to Brisbane to open new musical Rolling Thunder Vietnam.
It’s an important story of a past we don’t talk about enough, she says, and knows it will open conversations between different generations, just like shows did for her as a girl with her own grandparents. Conversations which inspired her to write and develop her new musical Yellow Rock, for which she was awarded the prestigious Dreaming Award from Australia Council last year.
“My grandmother Doreen died 12 years ago so I lost a lot of those nuanced conversations, but she lit up and would always talk about her heritage after we watched a show,” she says.
“For example, Bran Nue Dae, The Sapphires – those shows had really big impact on Ma because they were written by Aboriginal people, and when they tell their own story, and it’s not from somebody else’s perspective, they don’t focus on trauma.
“They focus on – we’ve got a bloody good sense of humour, and the wit – and perseverance and drive and the beauty of the culture – and I want to jump up and sing about it.
“And I really love to do something which is why I’m doing Yellow Rock, that celebrates specifically my country, which is Gumbaynggirr.
“That’s my heritage, and I really want to make sure that I’m doing my bit to ensure that the next generation of Gumbaynggirr kids are excited to be who they are, and to be part of such a big legacy.”
She says she was drawn to Rolling Thunder Vietnam for the same reason. Legacy. This time – her grandfather’s.
“It’s a bit of a hidden gem, Rolling Thunder Vietnam,” she continues.
“When I got the role I read through the script and I thought this is a really powerful story, and I thought of my grandparents the whole time.
“My Pa, who worked in the Army Reserves, and my mum was born in the ’70s, not long after this show is set.
“Especially in today’s climate … everything is so tumultuous, and I think a lot of the answers we seek to the questions we have about today, lie in the past.
“And I think it’s important that we revisit it, not just older generations, but it’s a great show for you to bring your grandkids as well.
“I think there is a great opportunity to understand the people you live with and it’s a great conversation starter.
“I think the best conversations I’ve ever had with my grandparents is because we went saw a show.
“I saw The Sapphires with my grandma, and she opened up about her Aboriginal identity and what their heritage meant to her and the language she’d lost – and I think that if my grandfather was alive today and I got to take him to see Rolling Thunder Vietnam, that would have opened up some really important questions as well.
“I just think that storytelling is so important.”
And one the great things about theatre, she reasons, is that it is happily distraction free.
“You have to listen to us for two hours,” Shipway says.
“There’s no scrolling on your phone or swiping right or left on Tinder, and not like always sitting down at a screen – it’s really interactive.
“We share something as audience members and as performers.
“We share the same air for two hours and then you go into the foyer and have a conversation with the people you were with about what you saw and what that sparked in you.
“And the thing I really liked about the show, which is the second musical I have done about the Vietnam War, is it’s just incredibly hopeful, and the message is so relevant.”
She says the idea of having to question our relationship with the states and our ideas around stereotypes is as poignant today as it was at the time.
“I think it’s a celebration of the Australian heroes who fought for what we have today,” she says.
“And I think this show honours them.
“And that’s really powerful, and we don’t have a lot of that with our theatre here.
“We import a lot of stories from overseas, and that’s why we should really treasure stories like this … it really does represent a lot of different sets of perspectives of the war in Australia, and it had a huge impact here.
“And I had no idea until we started the rehearsals – it’s really touching … and you get carried along this story with incredible rock bangers like Paint It Black, War, People Get Ready, Killing Me Softly – beautiful songs and anthems of that generation.
“I didn’t know half the songs when I walked in on that first day of rehearsal, and I am now converted.
“I love rock music – bring on the ’60s and ’70s, I’m ready to wear the headband and tie dye shirt,” she laughs.
Growing up, she says it was her mother who loved to sing, inspired by Tina Turner and Young Talent Time, but as she ‘sounded like a dying cat’, Brittanie was put into singing lessons from the age of six.
“And I’ve been singing ever since,” she laughs.
“But, for me, it’s less about performing and it’s more writing and being a dramaturg – which is basically a story mechanic – for the last three years or so because of Covid, but I really am drawn to stories that I get something out of, and that I think an audience will get something out of.
“I’m not really interested in telling stories that you can learn a moral lesson from an Instagram story or TikTok pic.
“I really want to have a conversation with the audiences.
“I’m not interested in plastic stories where somebody walks away and, in the foyer, they’re talking about what they had for lunch.
“I really want to create a space of empathy and a social discourse with audience members – I think it’s important to be able to talk about stuff, and disagree and empathise with people who have had very different world views and experiences to yourself.”
Last year, Shipway wrote a play about cancel culture, called Senser, which played in Melbourne.
“It pokes fun at cancel culture – it’s a really irreverent, camp cabaret with new music … and I’m hoping that will make a return season, and we can bring it to Sydney next,” she says.
“I’m also working on Yellow Rock, which is a musical in my grandmother’s Gumbaynggirr language, which is an Aboriginal language up at the Big Banana, up that way.”
But before trying her hand at original work, she played Kay in The Sapphires, Lauren in Kinky Boots, Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar and Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. Her play A Letter For Molly debuted at the Ensemble Theatre to rave reviews under the directorial helm of the critically acclaimed Ursula Yovich. Shipway also starred in that production in the lead role of Renee.
Rolling Thunder Vietnam will tour the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Toowoomba, Caloundra, Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, Perth, Adelaide, Frankston and Melbourne, and also stars
Tom Oliver, from Velvet and The Marcia Hines Band. She and Oliver were actually on season three of the Voice together, both sharing coach Kylie Minogue.
“We were so young when we were on the show, so it’s really lovely to see how far we’ve come as artists nearly a decade later,” she says.
“It’s always nice to go back to Queensland too – they just have an appreciation for shows in a way that Sydney takes for granted sometimes.
“Although I do have a theory that the colder the climate (the better it goes), so in Victoria, they love theatre the most – it’s too cold to do sport down there,” she laughs.
Rolling Thunder Vietnam will show at the Sydney Coliseum Theatre on May 6 and the State Theatre on June 2 and 3
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