Before I Forget (MTC), at Arts Centre Melbourne

Born in south-east Queensland and growing up in Brisbane, Jeanie Bell was a highly respected linguist.

She made a substantial contribution to the preservation of Indigenous Australian languages, before passing away in 2024, aged 75.

With assistance from Amanda Seed, Ms Bell compiled the Dictionary of the Gubbi-Gubbi and Butchulla languages.

Photos by Pia Johnson

She was Badtjala/Butchulla/Jagera theatre maker Kamarra Bell-Wykes’ mother.

Loosely inspired by real events, Bell-Wykes has written and directs Before I Forget, commissioned as part of MTC’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program.

Her mother was diagnosed with early onset dementia, and Kamarra had her power of attorney.

The work is about mother/daughter relationships and intergenerational trauma, but it is also about love, forgiveness, family and healing.

Imbued with Indigenous language, the centrepiece is a character named Faith Well, played by Roxanne McDonald (who knew Jeanie Bell and could channel her mannerisms).

Faith’s daughter in the play is Karma, a role filled by Melodie Reynolds-Diarra, while Faith’s granddaughter is Hope, a part taken by Tyallah Bullock.

Also featuring is Faith’s son (Karma’s brother), Jet, played by Nathan Wright.

Faith has early onset dementia, and Karma has power of attorney. Karma and Hope have travelled to Caboolture in regional Queensland.

They have three days to clean up the home where Faith grew up before the removalists move in.

It is a place filled with memories of Faith’s parents and her work.

Faith’s mind drifts from the here and now to a dementia-riddled state. She is deteriorating fast.

Karma is dealing with the red tape of moving her to a secure care facility (she has had to sell the family home to fund it) and it is far from easy.

Karma plays “strong”, while Hope is “soft”. It is the perfect combination, but none of these women have had it easy.

Faith’s husband, the father of her children, left her.

As a child, Karma moved around a lot, attending many different primary schools.

Hope’s partner has hit her, leaving her with a black eye, so – she too – has her own troubles.

Gradually, we learn more about Faith’s resounding influence on her kith and kin.

She was fiercely independent, a prominent First Nations’ linguist and academic, and a passionate activist.

Regrettably, she is now forgetful and disorientated.

Meanwhile, Faith’s drifter son, Jet, always into her for money, turns up at Caboolture late in the piece.

Faith wants him to take her away, but he struggles to accept what he sees.

This is a family that wears its heart on its sleeve. They bicker and swear and love … hard.

Emotion charged, filled with humour (in fact, there is no shortage of that) and heartbreak, Before I Forget is rich and raw. It feels real.

The opening night audience was greatly moved.

That gets down to the insightful writing and outstanding performances.

Roxanne McDonald readily channels the spark that made Faith such a force, but then is fearful and prone to fits of pique.

Melodie Reynolds-Diarra lays bare the torment Karma is going through in coming to terms with Faith’s harsh reality.

Tyallah Bullock is the dreamer, who – as Hope – frequently clashes with her mum and wants everything to be all right.

Nathan Wright has a small, but important role as the loose cannon who cannot be relied upon.

The expansive set by set and costume designer Sophie Woodward is a beauty. It is the open house in Caboolture, with the sky and stars above.

Lighting designer Katie Sfetkidis has an important part to play in setting the tone, moving through the three days – from day through night.

So too the composer and sound designer, Andrew Niven, known as small sound.

He leans heavily on the whispered sounds of ancestors that pepper the piece and cause individual family members to do a double take, along with evocative music.

While I felt there were elements that could have been tightened, there is no doubt that Before I Forget strikes a chord.

It speaks of life’s vicissitudes, female familial ties, and the particularly harsh lot of the First Nations Peoples over time.

One hundred minutes without interval, it is on at The Fairfax, Arts Centre Melbourne, until 28^th November, 2026.