By June Ramli
Perth, July 20: There is a moment in At What Cost? where the air in the room genuinely changes and where a question that started as a family argument becomes a question the whole audience has to sit with. That’s the kind of play this is.
I caught the WA premiere of Nathan Maynard’s At What Cost?, presented by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company, on a Saturday night at the Subiaco Arts Centre.
It’s a small, unassuming venue that looks more like a school hall after dark than a theatre but don’t let that fool you.
The seating is intimate and comfortable, and even with a modest turnout that evening, the production filled the space completely.
Set in Putalina (Oyster Cove), a site of deep cultural and historical significance to Tasmanian Aboriginal people, the play follows Boyd, a man walking a tightrope between his duty to land, to people, and to a baby on the way. He also carries the weight of bringing an ancestor home.
But something is shifting around him.
Every year, more people show up claiming Palawa identity, some he recognises, most he doesn’t.
Where were they before?
Are they genuine, or simply ticking a box? Who decides? At What Cost? doesn’t offer easy answers, and that’s precisely its strength as it forces the audience to confront how contested and painful the question of identity can be, especially when it’s used by outsiders to claim rights that belong to Aboriginal people.
The play is also unflinching about the language of exclusion and slurs that Aboriginal people have had to live with, a hard but necessary reminder of how casually cruelty can be dressed up as everyday speech.
On performance: the cast largely carried the material with conviction.
One actor stumbled over a handful of lines, likely nerves rather than a lack of preparation, but it barely dented the evening.
The props and staging felt natural and well-rehearsed, and the production as a whole had the polish of a company that clearly understands the weight of the story it’s telling.
Walking out, I found myself thinking about the everyday struggles Indigenous people continue to navigate that rarely make it into casual conversation but that a two-hour play managed to bring sharply into focus.
That, to me, is what good theatre is for.
Held from 20 July till 1 August. Venue: Subiaco Arts Centre Tickets: Buy tickets
Please note: latecomers will not be admitted until a suitable break during the performance. Mobile telephones and electronic devices are to be turned off during the performance. Cameras, video cameras, and tape recorders are not permitted without the consent of the promoter.
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