We call it the national game, but only half of Australia plays or supports the code of AFL – it’s as if we can’t even agree on the very basics. And while it seems an unlikely subject for theatre, there have been some terrific plays written about footy: Alan Hopgood’s And the Big Men Fly, David Williamson’s The Club and, more recently, Brendan Cowell’s The Sublime. We can add Trawlwoolway playwright Nathan Maynard’s 37 to the list.
The number belonged to Swans legend and former Australian of the Year Adam Goodes. His legacy – and the controversy with which his career came to be associated – penetrates every sinew of this work. It employs the concept of the synecdoche, where a part stands in for the whole, to explore themes of unity, identity and racism. The part is the local team of a small coastal town, the Currawongs; the whole, quite clearly, is the country itself.
