‘Black Light’ premieres in Melbourne, centring three generations of Blak women and family ties to Country

A new First Nations theatre work, Black Light, has premiered at Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre, bringing together sisters Rachael and Lisa Maza on stage for the first time in more than a decade and placing three generations of Blak women at the centre of a story about family, memory and survival.

Rachael Maza, a Yidinji/Meriam/Dutch actor who recently stepped away after 18 years as artistic director of Indigenous theatre company Ilbijerri, told ABC Radio National that returning to rehearsal rooms carries a familiar mix of nerves and excitement. “It’s the first time you hear your voice out loud, and the entire theatre company’s there watching” she said. “But it’s also super exciting because you’re beginning this massive journey.”

Black Light follows four women (Bub, Mum, Aunty and Nan) who are stuck in a family home on the outskirts of Darwin, waiting out what seems to be a natural disaster. The production brings the Mazas’ sibling chemistry directly into the work: Rachael plays Aunty and Lisa plays Mum, two sisters who bicker over everything from groceries to caring responsibilities for their mother.

For Maza, the creative partnership is also personal. Having her sister alongside her shapes how the work lands. “There’s a real familiarity that means that we can just get on with the work” she said. “Even over lunch, we’re still talking about it. And when we go home we’re still talking about it.”

Malthouse Theatre describes the show as a world premiere written and directed by Jada Alberts, with a season running through early March. Reviewers have highlighted the prominence of Indigenous women’s voices and the way the work sits in conversation with broader themes of Country, kinship and responsibility, including how families navigate crisis and care under pressure.

The production also arrives amid ongoing national discussion about the space and support afforded to First Nations storytelling in mainstream cultural institutions. Works like Black Light demonstrate how Indigenous-led creative teams continue to expand Australian theatre, not only through representation but through narrative authority – deciding what stories are told, how they are structured and whose perspectives are centred.