Presented by Tandanya- National Aboriginal Cultural Institute
Reviewed 29th Feb 2020
I Don’t Wanna Play House is the raw and emotional monologue of Tammy Anderson’s life and the child abuse she suffered and domestic violence her and her siblings were exposed to growing up. Tammy does a phenominal job at potraying her mother and what domestic violence looks like to the person experiencing it but also to the children witnessing it. A stand out character is Tammy’s Nan who also comments on the domestic violence as Tammy’s mum inevitably returns home after each relationship breakdown. As we listen to different characters being represented there are a few spots where it is difficult to pick whom is being depicted and highlited; props can sometimes be helpful to aid with this (An imaginary dog made it easy to know when Tammy’s Nan was making an appearance)
As the story progresses, the trauma worsens and it begins to become very hard to watch. With trauma filling the majority of the storyline, the only thing stopping you crossing the line into despair is Tammy’s eternal optimism. However, even with the optimism, the trauma throughout is undescribable and the word ‘secret’ will never be the same for me. The best bit about this performance is that you know Tammy survived the abuse and neglect because she is standing in front of you performing and is able to provide an update on how well her life is doing now. Even so, you are still faced with the truth that unfortunately her siblings and mum are perhaps not in the same position and this realisation adds further weight to the topics discussed in the performance.
As the show came to a close Tammy realised that she had missed a part of the story and so politely asked the audience if she could go back and perform the missing timeline to which they agreed. Tammy depicted yet another one of her mother’s relationships, but this time innocent bystanders got hurt as well and the show ended with a realisation of what domestic violence can look like.
As the performance came to an end and the audience arrupted in to applause, it became apparent that they had had a similar experience to mine, with emotions running into overdrive. I think we all left with a stronger sense of Social Justice and the need to have conversations about Domestic Violence and Child Abuse.
Reviewed
by Tara Forbes-Godfrey
Rating out of 5: 3.5 Confronting but a necessary story to start important
conversations
Season Ended
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