We caught up with Tahlia Biggs following the world premiere of Seven Deadly Gins, a production that brought together an extraordinary cast of First Nations women and drew enthusiastic audiences to Garramilla / Darwin’s iconic Brown’s Mart theatre.

Eleven sold-out performances with an additional matinee. Audiences travelling from across the Northern Territory to see a story that had been 20 years in the making.

For Artback NT‘s Tour Producer, Tahlia Biggs, being part of the world premiere of Seven Deadly Gins was an opportunity to work alongside some of Australia’s most talented First Nations performers and bring a distinctly NT story to the stage.

Written by Yvette Walker and co-directed by Shari Sebbens and Ursula Yovich, the Brown’s Mart production followed Magenta as she returned home to the Gulf of Carpentaria region and confronted the experiences and relationships she had left behind.

Exploring trauma, grief, forgiveness and self-love, the play also had plenty of humour, much of it delivered through the relationships between its seven women.

Meet Bianca

Tahlia played Bianca, a lively character with an appetite for adventure and a talent for stirring up the other women.

“She’s the party girl. She’s there for a good time, and she gets a kick out of stirring up the other women,” Tahlia explains.

But underneath Bianca’s exuberant personality was a more complicated story.

For Tahlia, one of the pleasures of playing the character was exploring that emotional range. Bianca could be irreverent and hilarious one moment, then reveal something much more vulnerable the next.

Her approach to life was unapologetic, even when the other characters disapproved. As Tahlia puts it:

“She’s authentically herself, 100%, regardless of what anyone else thinks.”

A story that brought people to the theatre

All performances of Seven Deadly Gins sold out, prompting Brown’s Mart to add a Saturday matinee, something Tahlia says the theatre hadn’t done for a mainstage production in some time.

“I knew someone in the crowd every single night. There were people coming from Alice Springs, and a lot of people who don’t normally go to the theatre. It was really good to see.”

Tahlia shared how powerful it was for audiences to see the voices, humour and relationships of Aboriginal women from the Territory on a mainstage.

“One of my favourite comments was from someone saying how good it was to hear us on stage: how we talk, how we laugh, how we tease each other. Just how Blak and how NT it sounded.”

The production drew out both laughter and tears, with characters that felt familiar to many audience members.

For Tahlia, that familiarity was part of its strength. The women on stage reflected the aunties, relatives and strong personalities that she and her fellow performers knew from their own lives.

Celebrating homegrown talent

The production also represented a landmark achievement for First Nations women in theatre. Six of the seven performers came from the Northern Territory, and women held the majority of the creative and production leadership roles.

For Tahlia, working alongside experienced performers such as Shari Sebbens and Ursula Yovich was particularly rewarding.

Both have built substantial careers beyond the Territory, and Tahlia appreciated the opportunity to learn from their experience.

“They were so generous with their expertise and really pushed us to understand our characters, who these women were and who they were to each other, so the audience could feel that connection as well,” she said.

The production’s world premiere was also the culmination of a long creative journey. Over more than two decades, numerous First Nations women had contributed to readings and the development of the script.

To finally see that work reach a Garramilla / Darwin stage, with so much local talent involved, was very special.

Making space for creative opportunities

Alongside her work as an artist, Tahlia is a valued member of the Artback NT team.

Taking part in Seven Deadly Gins meant stepping away from her usual projects as Tour Producer to rehearse and perform, an opportunity we were pleased to support, with help being brought in to cover her responsibilities during the production.

For Tahlia, having that flexibility made it possible to take on a role that was both personally meaningful and professionally rewarding.

Reflecting on the experience, she points to the possibilities for artists and arts workers already living in the Territory.

“There’s so much homegrown talent here,” she says.

What comes next?

Following the sold-out season, Tahlia is hopeful that Seven Deadly Gins might have a life beyond its premiere.

Discussions about future presentations and adaptations are still possibilities rather than confirmed plans, but the response has given the creative team plenty to be excited about.

In the meantime, the production has already left its mark: a long-developed story finally brought to life, enthusiastic audiences and a celebration of the extraordinary creative talent of First Nations women in the Northern Territory.

Congratulations to Tahlia and everyone involved in the production.

Hear more about the show, including audience reactions and reflections from Tahlia on her podcast on Saltwater Radio. Download the 8CCC app to listen to the episodes.