The 7 Stages of Grieving was co-written by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman in 1995. When it premiered in Brisbane, performed by Mailman and directed by Enoch, it was a radical piece of theatre both in terms of the way the play told its stories about Indigenous history through a series of vignettes, and the way in which the production was staged.

A landmark when it opened, it has since become an Australian classic and has been performed numerous times, with actors including Ursula Yovich, Leah Purcell and Lisa Flanagan, among others, taking on the role on the unnamed Woman.

Elaine Crombie in STC’s The 7 Stages of Grieving. Photograph © Joseph Mayers

Sydney Theatre Company is now staging its fourth production. Shari Sebbens (a Bardi, Jabirr Jabirr person and one of STC’s Resident Directors) directs, while Elaine Crombie (a Yankunytjatjara, Warrigmal and South Sea Islander woman with German ancestry) plays the Woman.

Though the stories it tells are now far more familiar to theatre audiences than when the play premiered, The 7 Stages of Grieving still has plenty of punch and plenty to say – for, tragically, not a great deal has changed regarding...