Sunshine Super Girl is the amazing story of Evonne Goolagong Cawley

Every January, playwright Andrea James goes to Melbourne to watch the Australian Open with friends. “I often sit there looking at these two personalities at either end of the court, bashing the ball at each other as hard as they possibly can,” she says. “And to me, it’s a really interesting dynamic in sport. And each combination of characters produces this really extraordinary game.”

This year, however, it’s James who will be bringing tennis to the people, as Sunshine Super Girl, her play about the life of Australia’s most beloved female tennis champion – Evonne Goolagong Cawley – turns Sydney Town Hall into a tennis court, complete with a net and seating either side.

Creator and director of Sunshine Super Girl Andrea James (seated) and Tuuli Narkle, who plays Evonne Goolagong Cawley.Credit: Rhett Wyman

James was intrigued by Goolagong Cawley’s story after she was given her autobiography, Home! The Evonne Goolagong Story, co-written by Phil Jarrett, as a birthday present.

“The story was absolutely riveting,” says James. “As a young Aboriginal girl growing up in north-east Victoria [James is a Yorta Yorta/Gunaikurnai woman], she definitely struck a chord with me. We always see the public persona but reading her autobiography there was so much more about that story we weren’t privy to - her private life and her public life were very, very separate.

“And I just thought it was ripe for the telling - she’s our first ever Aboriginal women’s world champion and it’s nearly 50 years since she won her first French Open and Wimbledon matches. I wondered why the story hadn’t been told before.”

That story is the stuff of tennis legend. Goolagong Cawley first picked up a tennis ball when was three after finding it under the wheel of her father’s car. Her dad, Ken, made her a racquet and she began hitting the ball against anything she could find. Hand-me-down racquets followed and she was given the keys to the local tennis courts in Barellan, a small farming town in the NSW Riverina. When her talent became evident, the townspeople rallied behind her, knitting cardigans, holding raffles and driving her to tournaments.

A 19-year-old Evonne Goolagong Cawley at full stretch at Wimbledon in 1971.Credit: United Press International

In 1965 she was discovered by tennis coach Vic Edwards and moved with him to Sydney. From there, her career skyrocketed and she went on to win 15 Grand Slam titles, including four Australian Opens. Her final Grand Slam appearance was a doubles match at Wimbledon in 1983.

James met with Goolagong Cawley and her husband Roger Cawley at their home in Queensland while working on the script and she describes the former tennis champ as a “very humble person”. “She’s really focused on providing pathways and opportunities for young Aboriginal kids through education and sport,” says James. “That’s her focus. She always says she wants to give back, because Australia gave so much to her.”

During the show, projections will transform the court from the dusty surrounds of Barellan to the grass courts of Wimbledon, while the actors perform Goolagong’s story through storytelling and dance. There will also be appearances by fellow superstars Martina Navratilova and Bjorn Borg. The iconic Dunlop Volley shoe even gets a cameo.

“It really takes you back to a certain time because tennis is played in a really different way today,” says James. “So there’s something really nice in honouring the integrity of that as well.”

For actor Tuuli Narkle, telling Goolagong Cawley’s story comes with its own unique set of pressures: she was only cast in late December after Katie Beckett, who has been part of the show since development, dropped out due to injury.

“I’ve been feverishly googling and YouTubing Evonne’s matches and now all of my YouTube recommendations are just tennis,” says Narkle, who flew over from Perth for the role. “I have no idea of the rules. I’ve been reading the Tennis for Dummies book to get my head around how you even win a match. It’s been a whirl.”

Despite being a complete tennis novice, Narkle was at least familiar with Goolagong Cawley.

“Being a blackfella in Australia [Narkle is a Yued/Wiilman Noongar woman], I don’t remember when I learnt who Evonne Goolagong was, but it’s just always been in my head - I just know who she is,” she says. “This play has been a really beautiful way to get to know who she was as a person and as an athlete.”

Sunshine Super Girl is at Sydney Town Hall from January 8-17 as part of the Sydney Festival.