Interview: The Crew of LETTERS TO LINDY at Seymour Centre

It was a moment in Australian history that set the country ablaze with rage, compassion, confusion, sorrow and echoed around the world with suspicion and bafflement. Lindy Chamberlain is synonymous with that phrase, but as with all accidental infamy there is much more to this woman's story. That's where playwright Alana Valentine comes in, presenting Letters to Lindy at the Seymour Centre after a strong season in Illawarra and Canberra.

This community of a show is as mysterious, mischievous and marvellous as would be expected. I was fortunate enough to connect with Jeanette Cronin, playing Chamberlain-Creighton, director Darren Yap and Valentine herself to find out what's in store.

BP: How did you prepare for this role Jeanette?
JC: I was fortunate enough to be included in the development workshops for Letters to Lindy. My maIn Focus initially was vocal quality, and I spent time refining the mix of dialects which are at play. I then let go and let the hybrid, which is character meets actor, loose.

BP: How did the casting process work? What do you believe drove you to getting the part?
JC: I'm not too sure about that one...you would have to ask the boss!

BP: Do you feel any pressure presenting such a recognisable and controversial figure in Australian culture?
JC: It is a privilege and pleasure to play Lindy and her generosity of spirit has gone a long way in short-circuiting pressure.

BP: What is the message of this play from your perspective?
JC: Forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness.

BP: What has playing Lindy Chamberlain really taught you?
JC: Forgiveness. And, open up your heart - and fight to keep it open.

BP: So Darren, how did you come across the play and what sold you on wanting to direct it?
DY: I was directing Alana's play Ladies Day for the Griffin Theatre and she asked me if I was interested in directing Letters to Lindy for Merrigong Theatre. I read the play and immediately wanted to do it.

BP: What were your objectives as a director for what you wanted the audience to take from the show?
DY: A lot of people know about Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and the terrible tragedy of losing her 9-week-old daughter to a dingo. But Alana and I were interested in the letters written to Lindy. Why did they need to write to her? I was fascinated how people needed to own Lindy - and why the public wanted to offer their support or condemn her. The relationship of the Letters to Lindy was the concept of the play. Why do we want to own someone we don't know?

BP: How has it been working with the performers?
DY: It has been an incredibly collaborative experience working with Jeannette Cronin, Jane Phegan, Glenn Hazeldine and Phillip Hilton. They have all contributed to the creation of the production. They offered so many wonderful choices and solutions to create the play. If it wasn't for them the play wouldn't exist.

BP: Do you feel any pressure with presenting an interpretation of a story so sensitive and high-profile?
DY: Yes I do! But that pressure is why I love the theatre and the risk of creating a New Work. There's nothing else like it. I knew that Alana's play had so much heart and pain. The play spoke to us as a Nation. Letters to Lindy is really, really important to tell.

BP: What do you feel is biggest misconception about Lindy Chamberlain?
DY: People judged Lindy because she was a Woman. She didn't always publicly shed tears. Lindy wanted to protect her family. She kept her grief and tears private most of the time. Her faith as a Seventh Day Adventist convicted her too by a lot of society. So for all these reasons she was condemned.

BP: Congratulations Alana on a superb run with Ladies Day, Eyes to the Floor, how does it feel having had so much of your work produced recently??
AV: I've been very fortunate to have Darren Yap as the director on both LADIES DAY and LETTERS TO LINDY. He is a remarkable director who brings great skill to the collaborative process that is theatre making. He has involved me in all aspects of the both productions - attending auditions and having a big say in casting, design presentations, rehearsal feedback and run notes. The two other productions this year are ONE BILLION BEATS which I co-wrote and co-directed with Romaine Moreton at Campbelltown Arts Centre and THE TREE WIDOWS which I wrote and directed for the Tasmanian Theatre Company and we performed outdoors on the Soldier's Memorial Walk in Queens Domain, Hobart. Both of them I was involved in the direction so I think that has been the great thing about all four productions this year - I feel like I have been able to have a clear and present voice in the productions. I think that an experienced writer can bring a lot to that process and I hope to do more directing myself in the future. Certainly for the last production this year, the adaptation of Frank Moorhouse's COLD LIGHT at the Street Theatre in Canberra in November, Caroline Stacey is another brilliantly consultative director.

BP: How long have you had this story brewing and how have you developed it for the stage?
AV: I received a Harold White Fellowship in 2013 and Mrs Chamberlain - Creighton's permission to go down to the National Library of Australia in Canberra to look at the letters in their 199 boxes! Since then I have had the privilege to interview Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton many times as well as go to her home to look at other files and letters and that's how I wrote the central monologue that runs through the entire drama, from transcripts of those interviews. So Lindy speaks her own words in this play. The process of conceiving of the chorus of three other performers who surround and interrogate and support Lindy came to me as I was securing permission from all the letter writers for the play and the additional scenes and drama have developed through the development process with Merrrigong Theatre Company who commissioned the work.

BP: What was the key factor in you putting this story down on paper??
AV: The key factor was gaining Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton's permission to look at the letters and then her trust and generous wisdom in allowing me to use her words and collection for the work. The financial support of the NLA and Merrigong have fuelled my ability to work.

BP: How do you feel your Lindy Chamberlain fits in with the canon of Australian female characters on stage??
AV: The character of Lindy that audiences will see here is complex, rational, and resilient. She is also vulnerable and courageous and disarmingly funny. She is both a deeply spiritual and highly perceptive person who has refused to be defined by the gross miscarriage of justice which was visited upon her. Where she fits in the canon? All I can say is that you need a superb actor with a fierce intelligence and dynamic vocal and physical gifts to pull it off and we have that in spades with Jeanette Cronin.

BP: What was the research process like?
AV: That's a great question and one that I am being given the opportunity to write an entire book about! I have been invited by the National Library of Australia's publications staff to compile a book about my experience of going through this incredible time capsule of the 1980's and include many of the letters. It will contain many more letters than I have been able to get into the play as well as my personal insights into the research process. Last month at the Library I gave the Ray Mathew Lecture which your readers can access at the web address below. Mostly the process was fascinating and my faith in human nature has been inspired by the breathtaking kindness of strangers I found in this collection. Without having long conversations about it or placing any more demand on her time than I thought was reasonable, Lindy herself became my exemplar of strength with regards how to deal with the nasty letters and some of the emotions that exposure to so many personal stories of heartbreak and tragedy stirred up. I never asked her, or told her of the effect on me. I simply watched how she coped with the material, how she reacted and responded, how she resolved to go on. In my copy of her autobiography 'The Dingo's Got My Baby ' Lindy wrote a very beautiful dedication. When I read it I thought to myself 'she will never know how much that means to me.' But the point about Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton is that she does know. She does know the value of a line or a verse or a thought and that is why she has filed them here, all so meticulously. https://www.nla.gov.au/audio/enter-the-playwright

Tickets available here.

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