HART, a verbatim play bringing to life testimonials from survivors of the Stolen Generations, opens in Wellington this weekend after performances in Auckland and Australia. 

Made by indie theatre company She Said, it is performed by Noongar man Ian Michael. Renee Liang talks to director Penny Harpham.   

Why do you make theatre?

1. I think that stories are the best way to communicate and share ideas.
2. I love working collaboratively in a group / ensemble environment.
3. Live performance is inherently community based - you're physically together, artist and audience, and so it is a communal contract that you are entering into - I like that all of us are in it together, it's a ritual, it's an event. 

All of this is to say that theatre is a community event where we go to listen to and share stories, and in so doing, new ideas and possibilities are born. 
 
How and why did She Said come into being?

She Said Theatre was formed in 2006 in Brisbane as a direct response to the lack of theatre practitioners Seanna van Helten and myself were seeing on and offstage in Brisbane at the time. Seanna and I co-founded She Said to create a platform for ourselves, and other artists who were not seeing themselves reflected or represented on Australian stages, to hone our skills and make our own work. At first our focus was solely on women, but we soon realised we weren't the only ones being left out of the national dialogue, so She Said extended its mission statement to reflect the plethora of other 'others' not being represented across our main-stages or screens. 
 
Tell me about some of your past shows.

Bock Kills Her Father premiered at La Mama for the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2015 to critical and audience acclaim. It featured a cast of five women who portrayed a gang of violent, 'stuck' young women in a 'nowhere' town. The play was written by Adam J A Cass and was an exploration into the effects of the patriarchy on women who popular feminism might have forgotten about. 

We also premiered Laika and Wills at Melbourne Fringe in 2013, featuring HART performer Ian Michael and written by HART co-writer Seanna van Helten. Laika and Wills connected three people across London, Moscow and Alice Springs - jumping back and forth between post WWII Europe and 2013 Australia - as the three were linked by Sputnik, the Transit of Venus and the yearning for something greater than what we're experiencing here on earth. 
 
When you're making a work, how do you ensure authenticity and cultural values are acknowledged while also going to the 'risky places' that theatre must access?

We keep each other in check. We make sure we don't abuse people's stories or words for our own gain. We acknowledge the people who we are speaking on behalf of or are exploring. But we also realise that to do stories justice we need to craft our performances in a way that is exciting, creative, engaging and surprising. For HART we also had both Indigenous cultural mentors and leaders in the room to ensure we were on the right track. 
 
How did you meet Ian and start working with him?

Ian auditioned for Laika and Wills in 2013. He was cast on the spot because of his skill, enthusiasm and keen sense of dramaturgy. Seanna, Ian and I have been friends and collaborators ever since. 

How did you first conceptualise HART? Did it come out of a political drive, or just a desire to give voice to the stories?

Ian approached me in 2014 to make a verbatim play about the Stolen Generations using testimonies he had found on the Stolen Generations Testimonies Foundation website. Seanna, Ian and I read through dozens and dozens of testimonies until we found some that we though could work together as a play. The aim of HART has never to be overtly political - it is to share these stories with audiences - young, old, black, white, right wing, left wing - so we can all hear, firsthand, what happened in this largely unspoken of time in Australia's history. The emphasis is on sharing, listening, learning and healing and providing space for Indigenous stories to take centre stage. 

How did you go about making it?

Seanna and Ian scripted the testimonies and interviews into a play which they gave to me, bit by bit (as it was written). Ian and I would then go into the room and 'jam'. I work with long-form improvisation and collaborate with my creative team very closely, so Raya Slavin would be in the room offering sound composition and songs, Casey Scott-Corless and Chloe Greaves would buzz ideas around about set and costume, Shannah McDonald and Michael Carmody make offers with lighting and AV. It's a beautiful ensemble where everyone throws ideas in the room and I guide / oversee / tighten them up. Importantly, Ian signs off on everything. We are all here to facilitate this play for Ian and the Noongar men whose stories we are telling, so he makes sure he is happy with how it is being shaped, supported and shared. 
 
As a New Zealander who has lived in Australia, I get the impression that the Stolen Generations is still an uncomfortable topic with little acknowledgment or even knowledge - what have been the responses to the show in Australia?  Has it started anything?

The responses are huge! People are uncomfortable, grateful, horrified, relieved, upset ... I don't think we can claim to 'start something', but we are actively contributing to the education and acknowledgement of Australia's shocking treatment of Indigenous Australians, and Ian is certainly becoming recognised as a proud and articulate Noongar man who is spreading his culture and history throughout the country. 
 
What has been the response to the show so far in NZ, where we also have a history of indigenous rights abuse?

Overwhelming positive and deeply shocked that Australia is so far behind in reconciliation, acknowledgement and understanding. We have a lot to learn from New Zealand, I think. I would love if our two counties continued meaningful exchanges such as what we're experiencing in the HART NZ tour- we need to educate and draw strength from each other. 

Do you think theatre makes a difference?

Of course. Storytelling is part of who we are as humans. It has always been, and will always be, how we pass on knowledge, warn of danger, exchange and strengthen our cultures, share in memories and encourage each other to think and dream beyond our immediate lives. 
 
What are you working on next?

We are heading into development for two of Seanna's new plays this year that will both premier in 2017, titled Fallen and Salt. We are also producing a new work by Kate Stones called The Quiet Bite, directed by She Said's Creative Producer, Anna Kennedy, which will premier at this year's Melbourne Fringe. HART will play at Tandanya Theatre in Adelaide for the Adelaide Fringe Festival as well as other venues we are yet to be able to announce (!), and Ian, Seanna and Penny are working on another show together, which is far too early to start talking up, but which we're really excited about! 

• HART is on in Wellington at BATS Theatre from February 20-24