All right, here we go, very professional over here.
Welcome to first things first, I'm Maddie Mills. My pronouns are he and him.
I'm Brook Blatton and my pronouns are she and her.
And before we get started, we'd like to acknowledge the custodians of the land on which we recorded today. For me, that's the gaddigl people of the urination.
And for me it's a rendering people of the cooler nation. Let's get it, Let's get into it.
Oh my god, I'm so excited because beside me in the studio I have the one and only director Ian Michael and incredible actor Stephanie Summerville.
Oh, let's give him around.
I thought it was clicks. I'm oh yeah.
Oh. I'm so excited to have both of you with us in studio because right now at Sydney Theater Company, Stolen by Jane Harrison is on stage and I had the absolute privilege of coming to see you guys in the rehearsal room, but also to come to opening nights. So I am so excited that I get to talk to you about it now in full length detail.
How are you but good?
Yeah? Good?
Having us introduce yourselves that with you. Ian, who's your mom where you're from?
And Michael, I'm a Wilman man from the southwest of w A. And I'm the director of Stolen.
And my name is Stephanie Somerville and I'm a proud Mardoo woman, which is from the Pilbrick Gascoyne region of w A. And my pronounce is she her.
Oh, I know, deadly.
I love on w w A Mobila on the side.
I feel like an outcast.
Hey, oh, I feel like an outcast because I'm all the way in Bloody Nam in Melbourne, but yours, Yeah, exactly, and it's actually such an honor. I haven't seen the play yet, and I actually did have tickets to the premier and I couldn't go because obviously it was in Sydney and I live in Mailban. But I've heard some great things from Maddie and some great things from other people who have saw the premiere, and I just want
to know more about the show. And I guess how it sort of came back because Ian we have cross paths before. So years ago Ian and I were both nominated in a youth category for the w A Awards and what's right, And I was gunning for Ian. I was like, nah, this, like I just knew like what you were doing writing, you know, as a performer like everything. And I was like, oh my god, this you were
just going to take off. And I've just been silently watching Afar and I have not ever ever felt like like you know what I mean, Like I've just been like, yeah, you're feeling everything that I thought you would. Not that it matters about me, but I'm just saying like I just knew that, yeah, And I really would love to see Stolen, But could you please tell me and I guess our listeners more about the show and the synopsis and what it's about. Yeah.
Yeah.
Stolen is a play by Mormori woman Jane Harrison. She started writing it in nineteen ninety two. Jane was working in copywriting and the company she was working for went under and so she was looking through the newspaper looking for writing jobs and Ilbideri Theater Company had posted an ad looking for a writer to write a play and the idea of it was about the stolen generations and
the original title was called The Lost Children. And Jane worked with another person, a consultant to find testimonials of stolen generations people, which then became the play and they wrote it over six years, so at premier in nineteen ninety eight, and it tells the story of five children who kind of, in this nonlinear way, transpose location and time over you know, decades, Ruby, Shirley, Sandy, Jimmy, and Anne who exist in this institution home that we kind
of find ourselves in and out through the play. There's a beautiful thing in it that kind of tells this what I love so much about the play. It tells is kind of generational kind of narrative where at any time these children may or may not have ever existed in this home together, which is you know, it's just beautiful strength of that plan and the writing is.
That it is.
And the original brief of it as well was not to just tell one story, but to tell the multitude of stories. So we see these five characters and other various characters kind of come through this home. We see them as the youngest versions of themselves when they first enter the home, and then we see them through their adult lives once they've left, and their experiences and their
memories and everything that they go through as adults. I feel like so privileged to have been able to make it because for me, it's been a play that has circled my life so much as an adult and as a theater and really inspired me a lot. The monologue Canopies, which is in the play, was the first monologue I ever.
Learned as an actor as well.
I love that.
Yeah, And it's a play that for all of us, it's kind of like we've either done scenes from it or we've read about it a lot, and to be able to kind of continue the legacy of it has been really really special. And I've just pinching myself with the people that I've got to make it with.
So that is really special. I mean, yeah, sorry.
I love that.
It has an Australian classic feel to it. You know, we all know it. It was in the curriculums we studied it in school. It has this sort of underlying truth of you know, the Stolen Generation and what happened in this country, that brutal colonial history that it impacts all of us as First Nations people. Steph, you play one of one of the Stolen Generation's members who experienced the Stolen Generation. Tell us about your character and what sort of personal experience do you bring good light?
Well, I play a character called Anne who is taken from her family and adopted by a white family, and throughout the play we follow her journey of reconnecting with her black family and how that affects her and her feelings of identity and belonging. And I mean, I feel very deeply connected to this play as well. My Nan
was a member of the Stolen Generation. Her and her nine brothers and sisters were all taken from their home in coom Marina and brought down to a place in wa in Perth called Sister Kates, which was a home for Aboriginal children where they were trained to be domestic servants, which is.
Basically a slave.
Yeah, and which is how she described it as well. She said I just felt like this little slave girl. And my Auntie, my NaN's daughter, was then taken from her when she was a baby as well. So in this play I see members of my family in each one of these characters, and so yeah, really deeply connected to it. In such an honor to get to tell these stories and tell their stories.
Yeah, well, Ian you've said I read that. You said, you know, as a first nation's person you are, whether it's directly or indirectly affected by their stolen generations in this country, I know that you have a direct connection to stolen generations. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience for your father?
Yeah, well, you know, with the history of the Solo generations and the timeline in which we know it as and you know what we know the kind of out of home care statistics now of children. So my dad was taken from his father in nineteen seventy three, which is you know, outside of the timeline of the stolen generations, and he was removed with all of his siblings and they were all taken and split up into different homes. And he was taken because they the government said that
a black man can't raise children. And so, you know, like Steph said, like through the kind of early stages of rehearsing the play, that we'd all just sit around the table and talk about our families. And you know, every single one of us has has a story or has stories of family who were directly removed or you know, living with someone from the stolen generations too.
And I think.
The way in which like we were all able to share that and like hold those stories with each other and for each other. Like it's it's been like one of the most rewarding and humbling experiences of theater I've ever had in my life. And yeah, like Steph was saying, all every single one of those characters, like we see them, we know them in ourselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely,
And we had to communit. We had the community night last week and you know, I said, and I said pre show to the audience, I said, there's always as an artist, you always ask yourself why and who you're making theater for, who you're telling stories for, And it was it was all of those people in that theater on that night. It was really special.
Yeah, I've heard that. It's like.
I'm currently studying acting at acting school here in Melbourn, and there's so many things that I've learned more about myself than anywhere, and I had to ask myself through throughout the breakdowns and the discovery and the obviously doing the work internally, you have to sort of sometimes pull yourself out of it and remember and validate your experiences
because you're bringing that to the work. And I mean as a writer, as a performer, as an actor, like you have to bring your own experiences, but it's so hard sometimes when those experiences are so close to you. And I had to sort of remind myself of the why.
And I love that.
Because it's like, why am I doing this? And why am I putting myself through this? And why am I doing And we, you know, Maddie and I always are driven by our why of why we start this podcast, why we want to tell people's story, why we want to talk to you guys, why I want to talk to anyone who wants to share those stories as well.
And I had to remind myself of the why I did it, and I think it's because I want these stories like you guys out there and to for people to see themselves in a way that you know, makes them feel seen and heard, which is not always easy because especially of our history and our you know the context of it. But I think it's such a magical, beautiful thing that I really learned through the power of storytelling.
And I think, yeah, I'm so admirable, like to all you guys, because you're able to execute that and see that as well and see the fact of people as well. So what was that community's like nightlife.
It was amazing. It felt like it felt like everyone was there with us every step of the way, like we're all breathing together. That's how it felt. And afterwards, in the four year, I had this uncle come up to me and say he was a member of the Stolen Generation and how deeply he was moved by it and to me, to know that we are doing their stories justice is so yes, so uplifting and makes me just go like, oh, this is why, this is exactly
why we're doing it. I just think every night, if there's just one black fellow in the audience, if it's for them and we're telling you know, their stories justice, then that's that is enough, you know. So yeah, it was. It was amazing night. I mean, community night for any show is always incredible, but to this it really felt special.
Yeah.
Well that reminds me of Opening night there obviously, what I could say, there wasn't a dry you know, iron the house. We were all moved and affected by what we saw. I want to ask about the rehearsal room and Ian, I know that you create such a safe space.
You know, it's an own You've got a reputation to be you know, a really delicate and loving, you know, director and in the industry, and I feel like this is a room that the base and you know, what you create is it needs to be safe, and it needs to make sure that, you know, the actors feel nurtured. What are some of the ways that you do that as a director to make sure that your cast feel supported when they're carrying such weighted stories.
Well, I think you know, as a director, the greatest privilege is creating space and then who you get to put in those spaces. That's the greatest privilege for me, and it's the reason I got inter directing was to create spaces for black fellows to tell our stories. You know, being an actor and then going into directing, you kind of just have an understanding of what an actor's experience, experiences, and processes are as you move through rehearsals. And you know,
I've been really lucky. I've had really great rehearsal processes and I've had not so good ones. So I've learned
so much from my own experiences as a performer. The big thing that I always lead with every time I run a room or start a day is I always want to respond to how everybody is feeling, because that's how the only way that I want to operate is how people, where people are at every single day, how far we can go with telling that story that day, especially with plays like this, and Steph and I worked in another play called The Bleeding Tree, which was you know,
about domestic violence, and we can't tell these stories unless there's moments that we can all just like press pause and laugh or you know.
At each other with each other.
But for me, it's always about responding to the people in the room and how they are because I just don't believe in making people. These actors are already giving so much of themselves every night on that stage, and so I never wanted in the room for them to feel like they couldn't do it, or that they couldn't do it safely, or that they weren't that they couldn't leave the work in.
The room every day.
Yeah, So it's always about the people.
It's a really strong ensemble that you have, and you've been able to pick and choose and put this together. When I was in the rehearsal room Brook, I had a chance to go through and watch rehearsals because I was interviewing for an ITV and I was sort of looking around the room and I was just thinking to myself, like, there's so much talent in that space, you know, from you know, directing a system, directing to you know, even
the stage design, but also the cast. What does it take to put together such a you know, a deadly cast? And were there people that you had in mind and didn't have to audition and someone like Steph Are You're just like, she's amazing. I absolutely know that she's going to kill this, so she just can't have the role. She would call her Marto Merrill. And speaking of laughter, we did us three were in a show together, you know, Black show Girls, And when you said pauls and laugh,
I was thinking about was the Black show Girls? How different it was to this show?
But how I love that show. By the way, I nearly pissed myself.
But you know, this room is it's beautifully crafted, and it's testament to you but also the actors. But what does it take to put together in a space like this?
It's pretty easy when you've got like actors of the color bar and skill that we have in the in the industry that we have.
This is the third play that Stephan and I've worked together on She's a favorite one.
Some of them will have to be in it. Megan Wilding, I knew how to be in it.
And then Katana Maynard and Jaron Andy are both actors that we auditioned for Ruby and Jimmy and they came in and you know, you get like self taped from around the country and then you did. We did a day of auditions for those two characters, and Katani came in and said to me, I've prepared them on all three ways. How do you how do you how do you want to see? Which one do you want to see? And I was like, show me all of them and she showed me too, and I was like that's enough.
I was like, I don't need to see anything. And then she you know, and like she walked out of the room and I was like, that's Ruby, and I was like, I don't need to see anybody else.
That is so cool.
Yeah, And Jaron Andy was the first actor I saw for Jimmy in the room and he walked out and I was like, that's Jimmy.
Deadly.
He blew me away on stage. I think that he has such like he's he's fresh right, He's like, this is his stage play. But to give a performance like that at Sydney did the company and have that as your debut, it's like you meant to be here.
This is exactly what you meant to be doing.
And I saw that in him and it excited me because you know, he's obviously very talented in the TV presenting world and so like we we've we've we've crossed paths a lot, but to see him on stage, it was a moment where like I felt so celebrated for him.
In particular, absolutely him and Catania both have not done a lot of theater, and again, like the privilege of being a director is to give people opportunities, like I've been afforded so many great ones, and so to like to give Jaron his first play and for him to do what he's doing in that play, like is it's like something to absolutely celebrate, you know. And I remember after our first preview and he was like, that's my first show I've ever done in front of an audience.
So brilliant.
And Matthew plays Sandy in the show. I've known Maddie for a long time, brilliant and like in casting, these Roles. I knew that every single one of these actors, like, there's a reason why everyone's in the room, right, And for all of these actors, I just wanted them to be able to flex and show your case their entire range and skill, but also to let the audiences and the industry know like what black Fellows can do and the range that we have in storytelling.
And a bit of pressure on him for doing the Canned Peace monologue for you. That was the first monologue you did, right, So how did he go? What did you think? Because I thought it was a bloody brilliant No.
I'm like, I saw the show on Saturday night after not seeing.
It for a few days, and usually you go in and just watch the play once or twice after it's opened, and I find it really hard to stay away as step, but I just wanted to check in because of the kind of the process that we've had has just always been so close with each other, and I really just went just to check in on the show.
And I was so blown.
Away by all of you and the the depths in which you're finding that story.
It was. I was like, very.
Very proud, flat Sydney. Yeah, bring it to Melbourne Brook.
I just know you and you're going to be crying like the second scene, and I'm going to be like with that box of dishes next to you.
You know when Steph was, you know, talking about Sister Kates, like I have a connection with that as well, Like I know so many stories of my family with Sister Kates and it's very known in the you know.
Know what Sister Kates is.
So I yeah, I felt really like I just dropped in then.
And I was like, oh, like that hurts a little bit.
But I yeah, I obviously I haven't seen the play and I would love to, so if you get.
The chance to bring it to Melbourn.
I know some people people I know where money is not kidding.
You know you just like just smile and think.
No, but just hearing just this the story, how proud you are Ian and how much this play meant to use stuff as well, Like it's just so nice. I feel like when you said the depth of you know, all the scale of what First Nations performers and shows can be like as well, like we're only I feel like, you know, obviously we've been around, but I think we're only just kind of like this is not even like we've got more, you know what I mean, Like it's
only just kind of getting started. I know, there's some great shows that have been previously out there, and I've seen some wonderful ones where I have been in the the room cry like bawling mind, but I yeah, I feel like we're already just kind of getting started.
So yeah, you know.
Absolutely, and also like who's running those rooms? And then yeah, it.
Was the first kind of experience I've had as a director. Yeah, and a few experiences that I've ever had with like the majority of people in our room were black fellows.
And then what that just does for.
The story, what it does for the process. It's like that thing about safety and care and all that, Yeah, just inherently happens because of who's in the room, and we're you know, able to go to what we need to where we need.
To go with these stories because we've got each other.
And the way in which the mob like hold each other and hold each other up is Yeah, however it sees the storm makes me.
I want to ask a question just about you spoke about range, and I suppose in this show there is you know, much range that you get to experience as an actor. But when you're in a show like this, it's quite heavy. Is there is the I suppose the aspiration for the next show to be something totally different so that you can find your way out of that somber energy that you sort of live through while doing this work, or does that come doesn't come into play
at all. It's like whatever's next will be I don't know.
I mean I always just, you know, want to do something that challenges me in some way. But yeah, for me, when it comes to like whatever I'm doing next, I'm just like, I just hope I'm working with amazing people that you know, it's exciting, I feel challenged. It's a good group of people. That's what what I look for. But yeah, listen, I'll do anything challenging.
I want to know, what has been the most challenging part of this show?
Yeah for you?
I mean definitely the personal connection has been the hardest part for me. And you know, usually I'm not an actor that that love doing all that like that method kind of work. I'm not the kind of person that goes, oh, I'm going to attach my own personal experience to this scene in order to get the most out of it, but you just cannot help it. With this plane, everything is just so close. And so I just found myself a lot having to be like, Okay, I need to
ground myself now. I need to be able to go to those places in the room to tell this story, but I have to be able to come back to my own body stuff. Yeah, and having the room that we have, having Ian and all the other cast members really felt like we're all holding each other's hands and saying like, I got you, I got you, It's gonna be all right. But yeah, also preemptively going into the space, preemptively knowing that it was going to be hard in that way and going Okay, now I'm going to have
to look after myself. I know I'm going to have to do those self care things, and I'm going to have to do them before you know, you get into a bad headspace to stop yourself from spy going in exactly.
So.
Yeah, but we also had an amazing psychologists come in and do a few sessions with us about, you know, how to to ground ourselves and give us a few techniques so that we yeah, so that it didn't take us too dark of the place, which I think was really amazing, And I was like, man, I don't know why, you know, we don't have this more often in rehearsal rooms because it was such an amazing resource.
But yeah, I love the industries. Industry is changing in that way where it is more about the care of the actors and it's you know, it's you want longevity in this field. Take care of yourself so that you can perform for a long time. And it's too affected by the by the you know, the work. But I want to know, what do you want the audiences to take away they come see this show? Where I feel like we are on a journey of truth telling in
this country. This plays a big part in it. What does it offer to that journey.
There's a quote that Jane Harrison said that I kind of have been carrying with me a lot through the process of this and even thinking about the way in which to make it and approach the all of the ideas and making it, and she says something along the lines of that this play isn't from our past, but it is absolutely in our present, and that the play absolutely does that too. Past and present are constantly like meeting each other. So for audiences that these stories aren't
part of history. They are happening right now, and that that there's an understanding of that and a deep understanding of that, but also for Aboriginal audience members that we in telling these stories are honoring those people, and I think that's what we're I hope we're doing so I think, really, I think a lot about people were having an understanding that this isn't over and for these five characters, even when they you know, at the end, there's no real
resolution for these characters, which is kind of the power of Jane's writing is that these characters it's kind of constantly, like you know, the way in which like the even the play begins and ends is kind of like there's
no ending. It's like we spoke a lot about in rehearsals like that these five characters are almost like these kind of ghosts with memories that come out of the walls and that they it's like these characters are just five characters, but it could be any of five characters who've got these kinds of stories to tell, who are just kind of constantly like they could just start the
play again. It's like that's what it feels like. And I think for audience members that they should have an understanding that that's not his historic It's not a historic play. It's not something that was written twenty six years ago.
And that was it.
Like this is still happening, and it's happening much much worse.
Yeah, and exactly, you know.
What happened when our first preview there was an inquiry in South Australia about babies being taken as soon as.
They were born in hospitals.
And that was happening on the day of our first preview. And then you know, there's a moment at the end of the play is like, what has happened since the apology?
Nothing?
Nothing, What has happened since the referendum in the seventies? Nothing over the you know, yeah, I think that that I really want people to think about this play even though like we think about the Australian canon in theater, for example, being like players at are twenty six years old, like they considered the canon work, but that this play is absolutely like about.
Now, yeah, present moment.
I mean, my sisters, my sister's baby was taken immediately from the hospital, Like that was only a couple of years ago. He's only four, so you know what I mean. It's it's very present, it's very raw, and it's I mean, it's not an easy thing to to listen to or to hear or to read about the alone perform and direct and then execute that. So a huge credit to you guys for doing that and telling the truth, telling of our history.
And I know that we need this more in a not in a.
You know, a way that we want to keep readdressing, but keep telling, I guess, and keep passing that knowledge down.
I just want to say, I'm so sorry that it happened to your family because that's so devastating.
Thank you. Yeah, I'm still mean.
Maddie and I talk about this really openly about how the reoccurring effects and how much it has an impact on us, but how much it just gives us that fire in our belly just be like fuck like just keeps keeps doing.
It and it takes us back to the start.
Yeah, we're also deeply connected to this story, even though even I haven't even seen it, but that I'm like, I'm there.
I think we'll probably wrap up soon, but I want to say, you know, this isn't this is a first nation story about First nations experiences. But it is a story for the whole of Australia to come to terms with, to grapple with, and to take on. You know, it's not just for us to hold the weight of what's happened to our people. It's about you know, accountability, seeing how you can you know, change the systems that operate in your favor and because they're still operating, you know.
And one of the ways that I you know, I feel like people can learn more and be more accountable and we're more honest with their self and their privileges by saying this show, yeah go and you know, I'm sit for an hour and a half and experience you know, the heartbreak, the tragedy.
The uncomfortableness, being uncomfortable knowledge.
It's definitely a way in which we can all heal together, you know, as a nation. But I want to say big thank you because I am so like on it to be your friends. I'm also you know, to have you on our pod because I just know that, like the world of theater and the arts are in really good hands with both of you. I know that this is like as much as this is you know, the pinnacle of your your work right now there is so
much more to come. I'm so excited to see you running theater companies around the world and and you know, and doing what you do best and Steph and Marto Merrill You're going to be killing it for years to come. So yeah, I'm super thrilled that we have you on today and me.
Too feeling so mutual like the way in which you two and have this platform and what you do with this platform and the stories that you tell and the people you have on like it's so inspiring. Like I've truly all day have just been like waiting to get here.
We've finally made.
So beautiful.
I was in love and at the start of the year listening to your podcast and just going like feeling so far away from home, but had you in my ears, and I was like.
Thank you for all of the work that you do too.
Thank you, best of luck for the continued shows. I hope to see it in Melbourne and I'll bespread the word. If there's anything we can do as well to spread the word other than this episode of the podcast, let us know, because we would love to give it more time.
Social yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's the same thing with theater audiences. Is like, how do we how do we make more theater? To make risk your theater. It's it's getting new audiences and bigger audiences to theater.
And if you ever want to write a tree part in Brook is there?
Okay you bye.
Thank you so much for listening to first things first, that was the Dead I and Michael and Steph some of them. Make sure you look them up, follow them. Go see Stolen if you get a chance. It's in Sydney at Sidney Theater Company woarf one.
And if you loved what you hear and you want to leave us a rating and a review, let us know. And if you want us to cover anything on the next episode, reach out via our socials. My handle is at brookd up Lot and Maddie's is at It's Maddie.
Meals And we'll see you next week.
Bye bye, love you, ay bye