Dance / Marrow, Australian Dance Theatre. At The Playhouse, until August 1. Reviewed by MICHELLE POTTER.

In the program notes for Australian Dance Theatre’s latest production, Marrow, artistic director Daniel Riley writes that the work, is “a clear-eyed exploration of the smoky forms of Australian identity”.

He suggests that we, the audience, have the opportunity to “delve deeper into the smoky netherworld of the work.”

Marrow was indeed a smoky production. Given Riley’s connections with the First Nations Wiradjuri peoples, I assumed that the smoke and haze that was injected into the performing space on various occasions, and in various ways, was a reference to the smoking ceremonies that are a feature of First Nations cultural and social activities.

They act as a measure to cleanse and purify and ward off evil. But perhaps in Marrow the smoke was also a strong reference to Riley’s belief that there is a hazy manner in which First Nations peoples have been, or are treated.

In his program notes Riley also refers to his extreme disappointment at the unsuccessful outcome of the 2023 referendum re a First Nations Voice to parliament.

Danced by six performers – called the “touring company” of Australian Dance Theatre – Marrow was, however, not an easy production to understand or enjoy.

For me, very little of an exploration of an identity was clear choreographically. There was quite a lot of walking and running around the stage broken by sharp arm movements and bodies rolling across the floor. Some solo work stood out and in fact the strongest feature of the production was the exceptional physicality and commitment of the performers.

But the ability to become more strongly involved in the performance was also hindered not just by the nature of the choreography but also by the lighting design from Matthew Adey. The stage was consistently dark, too dark for the dancers to be easily identified by name.

Then, although we were warned in advance of “loud noises and sound pressure effects,” the sound score by James Howard also removed the ability to become easily involved in the unfolding of the production. It was something of a relief when the score was paused for a few moments and one of the dancers pursued her activities to the soft sound of her singing voice.

The cultural adviser for Marrow was Major “Moogy” Sumner and his input, according to the program, was the story of the Waatji Pulyeri or the blue fairy-wren. That story was available on the program – a digital program – as an audio file only so not easily accessible when needed as a means of understanding, or at least clarifying somewhat, what was happening onstage.

After several decades of involvement in dance-related activities – performing, choreographing, teaching, writing – Marrow was for me one of the most difficult productions to understand and enjoy that I have come across in those decades.