Simon Douglas never heard his name called by an owl. He doesn’t cry when he sees people littering. He rails against the stereotypes thrown at Indigenous Americans yet knows that he’s constrained by them.
No matter what he does or how he defines himself, for much of society he will always have the word 'Indian' appended to the end of this title.
He’s a man caught between two worlds, and he’s angry about it. It’s an anger that comes through in this at times powerful work that pieces together vignettes and details from every stage of his life as he rails against those stereotypes and descends into them.
Brendan Chandler’s hyperactive solo performance sees him jumping between characters constantly, delivering a range of accents with mixed success and so much exuberance that earplugs are advisable. Though it’s not his story, he inhabits the tale of pride, sadness and defiance fully as we travel through Adelaide’s Eastern suburbs on a moving bus. Occasionally the bus stops and the doors open momentarily, at other times we retrace our route, but if this is an allegory of travelling through an urban landscape or going on a journey, its intricacies are lost on me.
His enthusiasm can’t be faulted. He inhabits each character fully, celebrating their idiosyncrasies and mourning their loss as he brings them to life. That those characters are overwhelmingly male becomes increasingly evident and in 90 minutes it’s rare to find a female character outside his immediate family who exists as anything more than a name and body. This is a work set in the '80s and '90s, and perhaps if it was written now it would address this. It would certainly make the protagonist more sympathetic.
'Tales Of An Urban Indian' shares some stories that are worth hearing, and gives voice to an underrepresented First Nations culture. Unfortunately, the bus ride detracts from the experience, which would be more enjoyable if condensed significantly.
★★★☆☆
