Review: Enlightening and Inspiring, RACHAEL BECK: IN HER OWN WORDS Is An Intriguing New Verbatim Theatre Offering

Rachael Beck (performer, concept & curator) and James Millar’s (concept & curation) new work, Rachael Beck: IN HER OWN WORDS is a celebration of Australian women.  Presented as part of Sydney Festival, this verbatim theatre work blends monologue, music and movement with audio-visual projection for an informative and inspiring insight into seventeen successful women.

Rachael Beck, who is known for her musical theatre and television work, and multi award winning actor, singer and writer James Millar have devised a work that celebrates women. The 70+ minute work, directed by Miranda Middleton, gives a glimpse into seventeen women from the arts, politics, sports and commerce with their own words retold or sung by Beck or in cases like Ursula Yovich’s contribution, the performers own recorded voice. Beck utilises the Wharf 1 Sydney Festival cabaret stage which has been dressed by Set and Costume Designer Kate Beere to give a cosy homely feel with armchair, coffee table and hat-stand on which various jackets hang to enable Beck to inhabit different characters and is supported by Musical Director and Accompanist Amanda Hodder.

Beck and Miller have reached out to a broad range of women that may or may not be familiar to the audience, depending on their fields of interest and it is an interesting guessing game as Beck shares their words before their identity is revealed.  The stories shared all talk of a resilience and determination, hopefully inspiring other women to persist and pursue their ambitions, with the acknowledgement that none of their roads to success were easy.  Beck uses a variety of mediums to ensure that the words are verbatim though the large book and the palm cards were a lot less distracting than the large printed cards used for many of the monologues.  Beck’s vocal talents are showcased with songs written by Kate Miller-Heidke and Dami Im along with arrangements of popular songs used to punctuate the stories. Beck’s talent as a dancer is also utilised to reinforce choreographer Kelley Abbey’s contribution. 

Rachael Beck: IN HER OWN WORDS is a captivating and moving performance that celebrates Australian women.  With only a short season for Sydney Festival, hopefully Beck and Millar will remount the work and the format of stories gleaned from interviews holds the promise that return seasons could include more women than the original 17.

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