37 (Melbourne Theatre Company) ★★★

Written by Nathan Maynard. Melbourne Theatre Company. 2 Mar – 5 Apr, 2024.

Nathan Maynard opens up the culture wars in Australian sport with a head-on look at racism with his play 37. It’s short on nuance but big on short shorts – much like the game of AFL itself.

Let me be upfront – I don’t know / kinda hate sport. To misquote Val from A Chorus Line, “I never heard about the Red Shoes AFL, I never saw the Red Shoes AFL, I didn’t give a crap about the Red Shoes AFL”. I was slightly apprehensive about going in, but this is theatre, and having recently seen the NTLive broadcast of the brilliant Dear England (about soccer), I figured this production would also be sure to cater to people like me. And it did. 37 isn’t about AFL, it’s just a microcosm for Australia’s attitudes on race.

Centred around a local football club that is underperforming, two new, indigenous players are brought in, the star-players Jayma (Ngali Shaw) and Sonny (Tibin Wyles). Jayma struggles to bond with anyone on the mostly white team other than the captain Joe (Ben O’Toole), while Sonny’s bright, easy-going personality helps him fit in. Together they grin their way through micro-aggressions and ignorant questions before one player, Woodsy (Eddie Orton) makes clear what he thinks of his Blak teammates.

The title is taken from the number on Aboriginal superstar football player Adam Goodes’ AFL jersey whose career ended in a haze of political and cultural mudslinging that put Australia to shame. It would be nice to say Australia has improved since then but, *looks at news websites*, nope – same old screamin’ bullshit goes on today! It was hard to watch 37 without thinking of the current “outrage” over Sam Kerr’s recent outburst. One recurring line from the script is the seemingly innocent question of “Is that racist?”

Maynard uses the 10 actors to portray a kaleidoscope of opinions. From the young player Ant (Costa D’Angelo) whose own non-white background is brushed off to the genuinely ignorant Gorby (Mitchell Brotz) and the allyship of Apples (Samuel Buckley). With all these potential viewpoints in the mix, it’s surprising that the discussion of racism in Australia feels so basic and undemanding. There is an odd lack of nuance, examination or understanding in the script – the polar opposite to Maynard’s At What Cost? Some interesting threads are raised (Sonny’s decision to simply ignore the racism and get on with things, or the behind-the-scenes politics of the club) but they never really take hold.

The script is kept alive by some breathtaking choreographed moments that emulate the sport, giving the play a lyrical vision the text somewhat lacks. Outside of these moments though scenes felt rather static, buoyed by a charismatic cast.

37 tackles its big topics directly and in doing so fell flat for me. The good people were good and the bad people were bad and there wasn’t any attempt to bridge the gap, or do what theatre does best, which is illuminate a knotty issue with a fresh point-of-view.