Tonight the night is dirty
and heavy, and the moon is swollen and bright. Everyone knows that on nights
like this, things happen.
The streets of Mount Druitt
Nakkiah Lui’s This Heaven is about a young indigenous woman whose father died in custody at Mount Druitt Police Station. The police were
found ‘not guilty’ and were fined; the family got $9,000, and no-one is allowed
to speak about it. The young woman, Sissy, is about to become a lawyer but the
law can wait; tonight is a time to grieve, to make their voices heard, to push,
to fight, to take a stand. Tonight, things will happen.
I’ve spent the
past two days thinking about this play, and I’m no closer to articulating my
thoughts on it. Because it was so blunt, so unavoidably angry and passionate,
so heartfelt and real; because it happened, because it happens, because it will
happen. Again. And again.
