“You’ll understand one day,” says a mother to her daughter, who says that daughter to her own daughter, but can the old adage really be true? Can we ever truly understand what stories our mothers are hiding when such words are said? In a musical that’s best described as a generational song cycle, the daughter, the mother and the grandmother of a single, dysfunctional family grapple with their histories and the problematic ways they pass on trauma to their progeny.

A dreamy score runs throughout, a soundscape of narratives speak over one another then echo one another in return, and original story-driven songs are delivered with clear lyrics, expertly sung by each of the unnamed characters. In this way, music, like memory, swims through the air between the actors on the stage. Similarly, outside of a couch, the stage props are a series of lamps, each one shining a metaphorical light on recall. There are postcards in a memory box, some for rereading, others for hiding.

unmothered is one of two shows being debuted at this year’s Fringe by Dead Darling Theatre, a local, and recently formed indie theatre company. Co-founded by Amelia Rooney and Hannah Smith, the company’s focus is inclusive and accessible storytelling, and they’ve managed to stick to the brief while presenting something dense and experimental. Kudos to them, and may they enjoy a long stint creating waves in South Australian theatre.

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Smith is a recent graduate of Flinders University and Rooney a current student at Adelaide University in Creative Writing and in Music, their youth and exuberance only noted in the demographics of the audience. By this I mean unmothered is an incredibly mature production, presented ever-so gently with unyielding integrity. Smith’s direction and Rooney’s writing and composition feel intimate and never practiced.

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The daughter, played by Jordan Bender who starred in the 2023 Fringe Award-winning production BIMBO (also directed by Rooney and produced by Smith), shifts ages without using obvious markers, while seasoned jazz vocalist Katrina Ryan moves from exasperated to melancholy to nostalgic without verbal fanfare as the mother. Similarly, I haven’t decided whether I admire or despise the character of the grandmother, played by dancer and choreographer Lisa Lanzi. She stands strong and upright no matter what memory she’s a part of, never really knowing what to say, so saying it wrong or not saying it at all.

Rooney’s on lap-steel guitar and vocals, joined by Jordan Holmes’ acoustic guitar and vocals, Jack Wake-Dyster on piano and Steph Teh on cello, all of them seated in plain view behind the actors. There’s something so obviously simple in their stage positioning, as if transparency is being mimed in a way that the characters in the play simply could not master. It’s a seemingly small, however rather crucial, example of how much this play gets right.

And if you need more examples, there are relaxed performances on Thursday March 12 at 8pm and Saturday March 14 1:30pm, while an Auslan interpretated performance takes place on the same Saturday performance.

Unmothered is playing at Goodwood Theatre and Studio from March 11 – 14