By Mikayla van Loon
A lively but thought provoking musical is making its way around the country and will land in Healesville next week, ready to wow audiences with song and dance.
‘The Sunshine Club’, written by proud Noonuccal Nuugi man Wesley Enoch AM, tells the story of Frank Doyle, an Aboriginal man who returns home from World War II to find separation of white and black fellas still exists despite having fought as one.
Determined to make change, Frank starts The Sunshine Club, a place where white and black can meet to share in dance and music.
With a slight ulterior motive, Frank hopes he will be able to dance with the girl of his dreams, Rose Morris, Reverend Percy Morris’ daughter.
Esteemed dancer and musical theatre performer Dale Pengelly plays the role of the Reverend, a first for him as an actor, and said the script was beautifully crafted.
“What a wonderful story to be dragging around this wonderful country of ours, in this time of radical change in our country, with The Voice and recognising our indigenous folk, for what they should have been recognised for a couple of 100 years ago,” he said.
“I was very attracted to the political message in it and when I say political message, it’s not that it’s been shoved down your throat, it’s being presented to you in a really beautiful song, dance and verse form.”
Although the musical was written by Enoch in 1999, Pengelly said the poignancy of the story never stops adding to the conservation.
“The timing of it is just so fantastic for what’s going on in this country at the moment to just fill in a bit more of the fabric of what this country is, the matrix of what this country is,” he said.
“It’s just a few more threads in the fabric to help people get clarity on what’s going on and what’s been going on.”
Through all the whimsical elements of musical performance, Pengelly said it casts a light on the racial discrimination that happened after the war.
“The Vietnam vets thought they had it bad, our black fellas, they could go with anyone to anywhere in Europe, in Africa, in the UK.
“They could stand side by side with the people that they’ve just been in the trenches with but then they come home and it’s like, ‘no, you can’t come in here’. It must have been demoralising for them.”
As a sympathetic character who feels deeply for the rights of his Aboriginal counterparts, Reverend Morris is tied in a dilemma when his daughter falls in love with Frank.
“He’s very sympathetic to our indigenous folk. Very receptive, very empathetic to race relations and to racial integration.
“[But] the premise I’ve been running on to try and dig down for my character is this can’t happen, my darling this cannot happen because who knows, in two years time I may be ordered by the government to send my grandchild to a mission as part of the stolen generation.”
Touring the regional centres of Australia thanks to HIT Productions, Pengelly said after 40 years of being on stages around the world and in the major cities, it is a true delight to see the far flung places this country has to offer.
“It’s the exact same show that all the big cities get. There’s no less cast, no less band, and there’s no less crew members, there’s no less anything,” he said.
“To bring such a wonderful theatre piece to the regional centres is just such a reward for me at this stage of my career.”
‘The Sunshine Club’ will arrive at The Memo in Healesville on Saturday 22 July, starting at 7.30pm. To find out more or to book tickets go to www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Experience/Events/The-Sunshine-Club or call 1300 368 333.
