As Nidal describes in one her poems during the show, home is a place of comfort, where you can be challenged but comfortable, it is not just a physical space. These three story tellers make the studio space at The Blue Room Theatre feel like home.
Our Stories, Our Motherland, features poets Abuk Lual, Nidal Saeed, and Vuma Phiri as they share with us a series of spoken word poems that transport the audience from northern Sudan down to Zambia and back over to Australia. They each speak through their physical journeys from Africa but also their emotional journeys, where is home, who do they identify more with, what do they miss, and how does Australia fit into their lives and ideas of home.
The evocative imagery Abuk uses to describe her motherland in South Sudan is stunning. Understanding her emotional and physical connection with her birthplace is a gorgeous throughline and key idea in each of the poet’s pieces. Vuma is a powerful force on stage, sharing with us poems using images of mermaids and siren songs, they spoke about colonisation and the diminishment of identity through immigration but a continued sense of a forced resilience. Nidla is an incredibly strong writer and performer, talking more about this idea of home and delves into gender roles and what it means to be a woman in a split apart identity.
Following the poems, the three poets sit and bring us into a Q&A. I could listen to the three of them talk about art and poetry for days. When the time ended and they had to wrap up, I was devastated. Hearing them talk in detail about what drives them, what inspires them, how they write, and all these different aspects brought me into a whole new light for the show and I left so energised and full of love at art. They inspire so well and are full of such magic to share with the world, I will be excitedly on the watch for wherever these three story tellers show up, they are amazing makers and a gift to have on offer.
Our Stories, Our Motherland is a unique theatre experience, but when we see cross form arts brought together it highlights the strength in both and this show excels in this. The poetry is out of this world and the poets have a stunning presence. My only wish is that it was on for longer, I would definitely be going again.
Our Stories, Our Motherland is on now at The Blue Room Theatre until Feb 2.