Many people will know Georgina Naidu from her role as the traditional Indian woman Phrani in the popular ABC television show, ‘Sea Change’. Recently Georgina devised and performed her own autobiographical show ‘Yellowfeather’ at the Studio theatre in the Sydney Opera House.

As background, Georgina is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts from 1994 and has appeared in numerous television shows, theatre productions and film credits. In ‘Yellowfeather’ Georgina tells her own story, the story of a girl trying to grasp her Indian-Australian identity against the backdrop of suburban Melbourne.

Georgina performed on stage with the backing of her own DJ by the name of DJ Schmidt, an Indo-Fijian Australian who provided an eclectic soundtrack ranging from Prince and Credence Clearwater to Bollywood Breaks and Stevie Wonder. ‘Yellowfeather’ was directed by Sally Sussman.

Through the play we experience some of the different incarnations Georgina underwent to get to her present artistic position as a performer, trained musician and published writer, At 4 she is the Yellowfeather of the title, convinced she is an extra from Daniel Boone. At 16, she is Georgee, lapping up male attention that she receives from looking like a cross between Janet Jackson, Kate Ceberano and Lisa Bonet. At 29 she is Phrani in Sea Change, almost strangling herself to get into her sari.

My verdict…I enjoyed the show for Georgina’s high octane and often outrageous energy and persona, its celebration of Australian/Indian culture, and Georgina’s depiction of her clearly tough struggle against racism and stereotyping. I did feel however that the show did need a lot of tightening, and it would have been better with more workshopping.