REVIEW: JANET'S VAGRANT LOVE Is A Heartfelt Cry For Compassion And Change From A Mother Wanting A Safer World For Her Young Blak Sons.

Friday 20th January 2023, 7:15pm, Downstairs at Belvoir St Theatre.

A cry for change told through the medium of song and yarns, JANET'S VAGRANT LOVE is a powerful piece of cabaret theatre presented by Elaine Crombie on behalf of mothers of young Blak men across the country. Anchored in true experiences, the original songs that punctuate this work rings out as a clarion cry for society to sit up, pay attention and demand change to save the next generation from the prejudice of the past.

The program notes, and Elaine Crombie's opening welcome to the audience advise that she is a proud Yunkuntjatjarra, Warrigmay, South Sea Islander, German kungka, with the last word meaning woman. An acclaimed actress, musician, and composer, Crombie, a daughter of the stolen generation, is also a single mother to teenage and young adult sons. It is this experience that the Crombie, as performer and writer of JANET'S VAGRANT LOVE, has infused into the work that she presents under the guise of the fictional Janet, the 'vagrant' actor constantly on the move between various performing jobs, in order to shift the story from being purely her own story to representing the experiences and more particularly the feelings of other Blak mothers of young Blak sons.

In the intimate Belvoir Downstairs theatre space, made to feel like a welcoming living room with a two seater sofa and side table, Crombie is accompanied by musician Amaru Derwent as she expresses her experiences with love and loss along with her desire to be a good mother to her sons while she continues her career as a performer and advocates for keeping her culture alive. First presented in the 2019 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Crombie is so connected to this work that even though she claims to be playing a character, this is delivered with an ease and sincerity that is immensely powerful. Her original compositions, presented in a range of musical styles, are heartfelt ballads that hopefully will have a life beyond the stage. The stories told are captivating and range from laugh out loud amusing to shocking but sadly all too common, a break in the fourth wall even made to check in with the audience. There is a passionate desperation as repeating patterns are exposed, hoping that her sons will not be the next names needing justice from a society that racially profiles and assumes guilt just because of the color of someone's skin.

JANET'S VAGRANT LOVE is a powerful piece of cabaret with an important social message while also being a beautiful 'love letter' to the lives closest to Elaine Crombie, from her childhood best friend and her Nan, this work is well worth seeing.

Janet's Vagrant Love - Sydney Festival

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