The White Divers of Broome

‘The White Divers of Broome’ is an adaptation of the third novel by ex-barrister, John Bailey. This version is by the NIDA trained and Australian award-winning playwright, Hilary Bell. Hilary is the daughter of John Bell, of ‘Bell Shakespeare’ fame. Hilary last proved her immense talent when she gave us the 2007 Deckchair Theatre’s fabulous and ingenious play about a feral girl, ‘Memmie Le Blanc’.

This play is being presented until the 16^th February, by Black Swan State Theatre Company at the Heath Ledger Theatre, in the State Theatre Centre of WA, at the corner of William and Roe Streets, Northbridge. The two and a half hour performances commence at 7.30 pm.

 
 

      It is 1912 and for decades, multicultural Broome’s richest man, pearl lugger owner Sid Pigott (Ian Toyne) has been exploiting the Asian pearl divers as they perilously find the mother of pearl shell. However, the new White Australian policy is now forcing him to employ white divers. At a huge expense, he has had to ‘import’ the elite of the British Navy divers, teenagers Webber (Stuart Halusz), Sanders (Tom O’Sullivan) and Beasily (Sean Hawkins) to work for him. To welcome the three men, Pigott is holding a drinks party in his harbour side home, for Broome’s rich and famous. The press, in the form of the delicate Regina (Jo Morris), is there to record the happy moment of the removal of the undesirable Asian divers.

       The widow, Mrs Norman (Michelle Fornasier) is immediately taken by the youthful looks of one diver, and Mr and Mrs Foster (Nick Candy and Adrianne Daff) and Magistrate Wood (Greg McNeill) with his lady friend, Mrs Hexham (Caitlin Beresford-Ord) are all pleased to welcome new blood to the otherwise sleazy town with its brothels, drugs and alcoholism.

       Pigott is now faced with what to do with his Japanese divers, some of who have been with him for more than a decade. His best diver is Nishi (Yutaka Izumihara) whose wife (Miyuki Lotz) has just had a baby. The Malay diver, Bin (Kenneth Moraleda) is suffering joint damage from the excessive depths of diving.

       Will Pigott’s badly treated Aboriginal housemaid, Daisy (Kylie Farmer, whose birth name is Kaarljilba Kaardn) ever find out the truth about her parents? Will the new divers bring exceptional wealth to the avaricious lugger owner?

 
 

There can be no doubt that John Bailey has written a fascinating and stirring tale of life a hundred years ago in Broome. All life is there in the book’s pages, however, despite superb acting by the whole cast – without exception – I often found it hard to empathise at the tragic situations. I think this is because the script is mainly plot driven.  The ‘coloured’ inhabitants seemed to steal the show, along with an excellent performance from Ian Toyne.

 

The set (Bruce McKinven) is stunning, with some very clever effects which filled the stage with a magical atmosphere. The team of mechanists (Rohan Best, Alon Jones, Warwick Doddrell and Emma Flavell) worked the numerous flats and sections smoothly and with perfect timing. The underwater scenes were most convincing, with the gurgling aquatic noises (sound - Ben Collins) coupled with Trent Suidgeest’s lighting, created a real sinking feeling as the divers descended to the depths.

The costumes (Alicia Clements) ranged from the torn and tatty clothes of the ‘coloured’ divers, to the beautiful kimonos of the Japanese women and the old fashioned diving suits with metal helmets.

 

A most enjoyable and enlightening night at the theatre. Visually spectacular.