The theatrical embodiment of the legendary Ruth Bader Ginsburg is coming to Canberra

Posted on 14 March, 2024

Acclaimed Australian actor Heather Mitchell has enjoyed bringing a multitude of characters to life over her five-decade career.

But her embodiment of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a career highlight — and a role which is almost eery in its faultless embodiment.

Mitchell played RBG—the iconic feminist and the second woman to be appointed to the US Supreme Court—in a sold-out season with the Sydney Theatre Company in 2022.

She has reprised the role for a second season Sydney before coming to Canberra Theatre Centre between 11-21 April.

RBG, Of Many, One has been described as “virtuosic” by The Conversation and “magnificent from start to finish” by Limelight.

Mitchell, a Logie winner who has performed in everything from Macbeth to A Country Practice, feels immense privilege in playing RBG.

“This is undoubtedly a highpoint for me and a role in which I use every aspect of myself, my emotions, my imagination, my physicality, my real life,” she says.

Mitchell has immersed herself in RBG’s world, and while not reading every single judgement handed down over her 27 years on the Supreme Court bench, she has come to truly understand the power of the word “dissent” and has an abiding admiration and affection for the gently-spoken trailblazer.

“I think what made her so impactful, was the influence of her mother, who told her ‘Do not raise your voice above others, hold your outrage, do your research, and listen to those you disagree with and find areas to build together — inching us all closer to equality’.”

In her quiet and thoughtful manner, RBG rose to become one of America’s most impactful advocates for gender equality and reproductive rights. The play, written by Olivier Award-winning Australian playwright Suzie Miller chronicles Ginsburg’s wins and dissents, traces her steps forward and the steps back, and brings the audience into the room with RBG at the most pivotal moments of her life.

Miller wrote the role for Mitchell based on her talents as an actor, but there are some distinct similarities Mitchell shares with RBG.

They both had Jewish mothers they were incredibly close to, and both mothers died before they graduated from high school. They both battled cancer, are both Americans (Mitchell has, however, lived mostly in Australia) they both had two children and both married “constant and emotionally mature” men called Marty.

Director Priscilla Jackman has helped guide Mitchell to conjure the essence of RBG in this once-in-a-generation theatrical event, not skipping a beat despite being pregnant, and giving birth during the rehearsal period.

“I’ll never forget Priscilla directing me via Zoom from a hospital bed while breast feeding. I’m sure Ruth would be thrilled. “

A NIDA graduate familiar across Australian stage, screen and television audiences, Mitchell says that reprising the role since its sell-out Sydney season in 2022 has allowed her to bring new insights to it.

“The script and the costume is the same and the character is still inside me, but I feel that in a different space I am bringing more energy and more humour to it. I think I have a slightly different approach to her, and I believe it is richer.”