RBG: Of Many, One

Sydney Theatre Company's production of Suzie Miller's play about Ruth Bader Ginsberg ... Her life in and outside the law ... Heather Mitchell as "Notorious RBG" ... Review by Braham Dabscheck

Heather Mitchell plays RBG

Ruth Bader Ginsburg came to prominence in the 1970s when as a lawyer she won a number of cases which brought about an end to sexual discrimination in America. 

She was appointed to the US Court of Appeals in 1980, by President Jimmy Carter, and to the US Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993. 

She died on September 18, 2020, 46 days prior to the 2020 election which saw Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump for the US presidency. 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is regarded as one of America's leading jurists in defence of gender and civil rights. This play by Suzie Miller, with a virtuoso solo performance by Heather Mitchell, combines the broad sweep of her legal contribution with details of her personal life.

The trajectory of the play is of Ruth Bader Ginsburg overcoming personal and professional difficulties and rising ever upwards. In the 2010s she found herself being part of the zeitgeist with films and documentaries celebrating her career as "Notorious RBG". 

At an appropriate moment, the song Notorious is blasted across the stage. At other times, we hear strands from leading operas; with opera being Ginsburg's great passion and, beside the love of her family, was possibly the only thing that she allowed to distract her from work. 

The play is organised into three parts, built around interactions with Presidents Bill Clinton, Barak Obama and Donald Trump. 

The first with Clinton, is her waiting for a phone call to confirm that he will nominate her to the Supreme Court. The second is an imagined meeting with Obama who wants her to retire so that he can appoint a younger person (woman) in case she should die with a Republican government in power ... How prescient. 

The third is when she was required to apologise to Donald Trump after criticising his candidacy for president and breaking a separation of powers doctrine between the judiciary and executive, which she had hitherto espoused.

As the play works its way through these three stages it flips backwards and forwards through time highlighting aspects of Ginsburg's personal and professional life. 

Mitchell effortlessly assumes different ages and phases in RBG's life, and also "performs" the roles of the various people who flitted in and out of her orbit. 

With a slight move of the head, a step to the right or the left, a change in lighting, an interjection of music or sound she becomes someone else and takes on their voice and mannerisms. Her two lines of impersonating Donald Trump are worth the cost of admission alone. 

The set is minimalist. Occasionally a stagehand will walk on and hand Mitchell a prop, or take it away. Strong overhead lights are wheeled in following the criticism of Trump. 

At times the clothes that Mitchell wears makes her look young; other times, combined with the stiffness of her gait, she's like a grandmother about to die. 

Documentaries and writings on the jurist highlight that she was always in control and learnt from her mother to avoid personal conflict - it was a waste of time, and one needed to build bridges; something which Miller also notes. 

Especially in the first part as she waits for Clinton's phone call, Mitchell plays Ginsburg as anxious, if not fragile and vulnerable. 

Waiting for Clinton

Fragility is also revealed when there is sickness and death in the family, especially of her sister at an early age, mother and husband.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a a lawyer and jurist who fought for change, yet she was also someone who, like all of us, had to work her way through life. 

Suzie Miller has made Ruth Bader Ginsburg an everywoman - representative of the struggle by women for equality, at least since the 1950s. 

When she graduated top of her class in the early 1950s she found it difficult to find work because of the triple "deficits" - being Jewish, a woman and a mother. 

With the support of a husband who recognised and celebrated her intellect and took on household responsibilities, including cooking, she overcame the obstacles and carved out a successful and productive life.

The night I attended the production Heather Mitchell and the directors had a session with the audience where they spoke about the background to the play - fielding questions form the audience. 

The last one was from a gentleman who observed that it was noteworthy that a play about this important American judge was "made" in Australia and suggested it should tour overseas. 

It would presumably do well in America; even in Florida's gerrymandered districts. 

RBG: Of Many, One is performed at The Sydney Theatre Company until December 23. 

Braham Dabscheck is a Senior Fellow in the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne. He writes on industrial relations, sport and other things. In May last year Justinian published his review of Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life's Work Fighting For A More Perfect Union, by Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Amanda Tyler, University of California Press, Oakland, 2021.