Written and performed by Omar Musa
Directed by Anthea Williams
Presented by The Canberra Theatre Centre in
association with Griffin Theatre Company
Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre 30th Jan. to 2nd Feb. 2019
Performance on 30th January reviewed by
Bill Stephens
Having known Omar Musa since he was a very small boy,
lived in the same town, and swum in the same river that inspires much of his
writing, it was a compelling, occasionally confronting, often moving
experience, to listen to his superbly written and stunningly articulated
descriptions of his life growing up in Queanbeyan.
However, you don’t have to have lived in Queanbeyan to
appreciate the forensic accuracy with which Musa describes his observations of
life as a Muslim boy living in a country town where his school playmates tell him
his skin is the colour of shit. Inspired by his response to the death of his hero,
Muhammad Ali, he describes how his best friend, Danny, with a background very
different to his own, introduces him to the temptations a seamy world that
would horrify his devout Muslim father, who insisted that Musa and his mother, join
him in ever-longer daily prayer sessions reading from holy books he could not
understand.
It was these unintelligible prayer sessions, together
with the advice given by his mother as she drove him to school each day, to “question
everything”, that inspired his curiosity and love of words, which he now chooses
with devastating effect to question and describe, in artfully constructed poems
and songs, his responses to the mysteries of life, love and the whole damn
cacophony.
Musa is a charismatic presence. There’s no sign of a chip
on his shoulder as he questions the status quo. His observations are often
brutally frank and sometimes uncomfortable to listen to, but undeniably
recognizable in their truthfulness.
Presented on a bare stage, with excellent backing tapes, moody lighting,
and perhaps a little too loud microphones, his performance sizzles with passion,
humour and curiosity, occasionally vacillating unexpectedly between playfulness
and rage. It’s a performance so compelling that the introduction of a female
back-up singer for a couple of the songs seemed an unwelcome distraction, which
added little except interrupt the carefully achieved rhythm of Anthea Williams
otherwise unobtrusive and thoughtful direction.
This show was recently awarded a Sydney Theatre Award
for “Best Cabaret Production”. That won’t be the last award it receives. Intelligent,
well-written and superbly performed, “Since Ali Died” is also an original and stimulating piece of theatre which should be
seen by anyone interested in questioning their place in an increasingly complex
world.
Photo by Robert Catto
This review also appears in Australian Arts Review. www.artsreview.com.au
