Friday the 2nd of November 1992 is the day my mam died, 3 months from diagnosis to death. I was 29, my baby son and his sister to another mother had just turned one. My world cracked and took years to right itself. Today I’m in rehearsals with real life mother and daughter Cheryl and Abigail Byron, performing their own story. I think about my mam, I relate to the dancing, laughing, dressing up and performing. My mam’s voice saying ‘go on girl’ means I dance, perform and I’m the woman I am today.
Edna stood in my corner, defending my right to be who I was then, a young lesbian mother, she marched, took her false teeth out and drank with a tribe of lesbians (all of whom attended her funeral-she was the mother to those whose own mothers had turned away). My mam didn’t see my journey with Open Clasp, the plays, wins and change achieved. But her voice, strength and ‘go on girl’ is forever in all our queer hearts.
Today I sit and watch a real-life mother and daughter, they are brave, fearful, extremely hard working, skilled and talented. As others who have gone before them, they are learning lines, placing feet, piecing together the story that is theirs but now a play text, set and design. It’s special to watch them work, play and create moments. It’s a play but with every turn of a page, day and moment that tick-tocks by, this special project is art and life colliding.
This real-life mother and daughter are now going through the process to create and perform their story. don’t forget the birds, this journey through theatre, is their beautiful story of how they find each other again, and with every page turned, every line learnt, they evolve, change and grow and we have the privilege to sit and watch.
Catrina
