By Adam Rafferty.
After a successful first run in the 2024 season, the Melbourne Theatre Company are kicking off (pun intended) this year with the triumphant return of 37, and it’s not hard to see why. This is a waggish, raucous and ribald comedy that also delivers a poignant message of race relations in Australia, all with perfect balance.
The title of the show reflects the guernsey number of former Sydney Swans AFL player Adam Goodes. A Brownlow Medallist, Australian of the Year and subject of a “booing saga” in the mid-2010s following a racist spectator remark and a subsequent goal celebration where he performed an Indigenous war dance, Goodes’ story has been told documentary form before, but this fictional tale provides a reflection of how the saga has impacted society.
In 37, Marngrook cousins Jayma (Ngali Shaw) and Sonny (Tibian Wyles) are recruited to the Cutting Cove Currawongs, a local footy club, with no other indigenous players on the team. Marngrook is a traditional First People’s sport, that involved kicking a possum skin, tied up with kangaroo sinews between two teams – the goal being to kick the ‘ball’ up high for the other team to catch, with the winner declared when one team decided the other had played better. It’s theorised that Marngrook had an influence on the creation of what is now known as AFL football.
Jayma is the star player, while Sonny is less keen to be on a team full of “white fellas”, yet he succumbs to provide moral support – and the $800 per week paycheck is a nice sweetener too. Of course, the club is full of blokey stereotypes as casual racism and sexism (and homoeroticism) abound. Playwright and Trawlwoolway man Nathan Maynard brings a ton of welcome humour to the machismo that overflows the change rooms and onto the grounds, while bringing individuality to each of the characters. From the hard-nosed coach ‘The General’ (Syd Brisbane) to the cocky lothario ‘Apples’ (Samuel Buckley), the hapless but enthusiastic ‘Gorby’ (Mitchell Brotz) to the respectful and supportive captain Joe (Ben O’Toole), Maynard’s love for the game of Australian Rules football is evident in his characters meaning that the risk of this story feeling like an artist’s parody of ‘sporting types’ is obliterated from the opening scenes.
Director (and Co-Choreographer with Waangenga Blanco) Isaac Drandic brings out each character’s personalities with beautiful nuance and detail. Maynard’s desire to bring the qualities of a musical to the script, but without the singing, is evident in the beautifully choreographed training drills and ‘game play’ scenes full of running, passing and the marking leaps that make the game of Aussie Rules so unique.
Of course, there’s more to this story than just footy, it’s the relationships and delicately handled interactions between these teammates that is core to the plot. As the blokey banter abounds, casual racism towards “wog” player Ant (Blake Draper) is easily brushed off, and thoughtless cracks from skipper Dazza (Anthony Standish) towards the First Nations boys sees differing reactions between the two cousins, but when Woodsy (Eddie Orton) feels his position on the team is threatened by Jayma, the racist barbs become far more serious and the echoes of Adam Goodes’ story push through.
Dale Ferguson’s club room set craftily provides both intimacy and the space to simulate game play. Drandic also makes great use of the auditorium to create the feeling of more open grounds. Ben Hughes’ lighting design and James Henry’s sound compositions bring lush detail to the game play moments also.
Seeing stories about sport told in the theatre can sometimes feel clunky as it can never really match the grand theatre of the sporting arena itself. But Nathan Maynard has struck the perfect balance of comedy and drama in this thoroughly charming and beautifully directed story that sports-lovers should recognise and theatre-lovers should delight in. If you missed 37 the first time around – as I did – don’t let it pass you by this season.
Image: Pia Johnson