JULIA caused PETE’S EYEBROWS to form a HIGH ARCH
The Performance
I can’t speak more highly of a performer who takes to the stage, largely alone, and holds an audience’s attention for ninety enthralling minutes.
Following on from Eryn Jean Norville, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Heather Mitchell in RBG, Justine Clark delivers a sublime performance as Julia Gillard.
Switching effortlessly between characters – from narrator, to mother, to peripheral characters, to Gillard herself – Clarke paced the narrative to perfection and embodied each of the characters she played.
By the time Clarke delivered her much anticipated rendition of the famous “not now, not ever” speech, she simply was Julia Gillard. Not just because she donned a red wig and a blue jacket, but because she had every nuanced hand gesture, every tilt of her shoulders and every vocal inflection bang on. It was mimicry, but without caricature.
A hat tip to voice coach, Jennifer White, for the hours she must have spent helping Clarke hone her performance.
The Writing
Playwright, Joanna Murray-Smith, did a splendid job as she skillfully weaved together extracts from published works and interviews, with Hansard and her own imagination to create a fascinating insight into the woman behind the speech.
She provided a compelling depiction of the gender-based prejudice Gillard faced during her political career and the obstacles all women face in order to be simply taken seriously.
Julia is a play all men in power should be compelled to see. Followed by a written test.
The Moment
Selecting “the moment” in this play – that moment which takes the theatre-goer’s breath away and makes them rejoice in the magic of live theatre – was easy.
It was always going to be when Justine Clark became Julia Gillard and delivered the “not now, not ever” misogyny speech. It was as breathtaking as I expected; rendered all the more compelling by our enhanced understanding of the woman, thanks to the preceding seventy minutes of sublime theatre.
For more information on the Sydney Theatre Company’s Production of Julia:
(Originally posted on 11 May 2023.)
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