Review: RBG: Of Many, One at State Theatre Centre of WA

RBG: Of Many, One at State Theatre Centre of WA
Thursday, June 13, 2024

RBG: Of Many, One is a wonderfully acted and inspirational play that contains a message for all. The one-woman play finds the stalwart of Australian stage and screen, Heather Mitchell, at the helm of telling the life and times of US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or, far more briefly and simply, RBG. With a script authored by lawyer turned acclaimed playwright Suzie Miller, the play’s acts trace the origin and key moments of the RBG story, with particular focus on the galvanisation of Ginsburg’s will and commitment to fighting gender inequality in all its forms within society.

On its surface, the play purports to be an abridged biography of sorts, under the direction of Priscilla Jackman, and thanks to the tremendous talent of its lead, the show bristles with energy and emotion. Mitchell's depiction of RBG on stage is downright stunning and serves to highlight her commitment to the role, as well as her immense talent and utmost versatility. On stage for the performance's entire runtime and with only the shortest of breaks between acts, Mitchell is so adept at portraying RBG through the various eras depicted in the play that the audience would be forgiven for thinking that it was not actually RBG that somehow miraculously made her way back to Earth to tell her story.

The change in RBG throughout the years is signalled through subtle and nuanced changes in mannerisms and accent, with Mitchell’s on-stage posture and gait being the obvious output of a depth of research on the play’s subject. Outside of the RBG character, Mitchell also excels, as she carries out the roles of those around the Justice with spot-on vocal mimicry of former presidents not only serving the play’s narratives but also providing the play with great humour.

The play’s narrative jumps in chronology, with Act One commencing in 1993 in the lead up to RBG’s nomination to the Supreme Court by US President Bill Clinton. This first act sets the tone for the show, with Mitchell’s on-stage actions and dialogue intertwining personal asides and emotional insights as key moments of US history play out around the lead. The character of RBG, while slight in stature, is always at the centre of the action, with David Fleischer’s consciously minimal set choices serving to highlight the lead.

Act Three is similar to the first act in that it also unpicks Ginsburg’s interactions and responses, but this time in the context of the more recent past. The act commences with the Obama years before swiftly moving into the era of ‘fake news’ and the 2016 US federal election that pitted the RBG-endorsed Hillary against Trump. Of particular intensity is this act’s scene that depicts RBG dining with Obama, with the meeting’s outcome birthing a potentially negative coda to RBG’s character as she doubles down on her strong and unflinching demeanour that had served her so well in her career. 

By not shying away from the question of RBG’s legacy and laying bare RBG’s intrinsic assumption that change can occur through institutions through the enactment of laws, the audience is allowed to draw its own conclusions.

MICHAEL HOLLICK

Photos by Prudence Upton