Culture

Listen To Shakespeare Performed In An Indigenous Language On Last Night’s ‘Q&A’

Q&A wasn't terrible for a change.

by Tom Clift  6 September 2016

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For a program that mostly amounts to a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, every once in a blue moon Q&A delivers something really worthwhile. Last night’s episode was one such occasion, with Tony Jones ditching the politicians for a panel of actors, writers and philosophers who spoke politely and with genuine insight about the lasting legacy of William Shakespeare.

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The show was filmed live at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, and commemorated 400 years since Shakespeare’s passing. On hand for the discussion was actor and writer Kate Mulvany, Bell Shakespeare founder John Bell, British philosopher A.C. Grayling, Indigenous actor and translator Kylie Farmer, and feminist scholar Germaine Greer, who to her credit managed to get through the entire episode without saying something horribly offensive. She did rubbish 50 Shades of Grey, but I think we’re all fine with that, right?

In any case, the most memorable moment came when Farmer performed Shakespeare’s Sonnet 127 in Noongar, an Indigenous language from the south-west part of Western Australia.

“In the old age, black was not counted fair,” recited Farmer, with Mulvany translating the words back into English. “Or if it were, it bore not beauty’s name. But now is black beauty’s successive heir, and beauty slandered with a bastard’s shame.”

“For since each hand hath put on nature’s power, fairing the foul with art’s false borrowed face, sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower, but is profaned, if not, lives in disgrace.”

“Therefore, my mistress’ eyes are raven-black, her eyes are so suited and they mourners seem not born fair, no beauty lack, slandering creation with a false esteem.”

“Yet so they mourn, becoming of their woe, that every tongue says beauty should look so.”

Farmer has previously performed a number of Shakespeare’s sonnets in Noongar at the Globe Theatre in London. Asked on last night’s show what meaning she took from the reading, she said that she liked to think that the playwright was “lobbying for the beauty in the blackness.”

Next week’s episode of Q&A will welcome right-wing caricature Rowan Dean onto the panel, presumably to read extracts from Tennessee Williams.