The Story of the Miracles at Cookie's Table

by Wesley Enoch

In the 1870's a girl is born under a tree her birth tree chosen to give her strength and wisdom. When the tree is cut down she follows it into the white man's world, working as a cook for the big house on the island. Her tree has become a kitchen table, one she will pass down through successive generations as a legacy a way of carving out her family stories. Now, generations later, a young man and his mother fight for ownership of the table. Directed by Marion Potts (Wonderlands), Cookie's Table is full of humour and is deeply affecting. Gently peeling away the layers of storytelling, it reveals the communal binds that lie beneath them.

80 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

Reviews

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wesley Enoch has crafted a touching modern Australian story, full of history and Aboriginal folklore. Cookie's table started it's life as a Birthing Tree, where Quandamooka women had gone to give birth for centuries. Cut down and made into a table, great grandma in the 1870s follows the table as a servant into the big settler house on Stradbbroke Island/ Minjerribah. In the present generation, the gay grandson and his mum fight over who gains possession of the table, she doesn't want him to take it overseas. A powerful play, told in a touching way. So different from his musical, "the Sunshine Club", which rocked along with WW2 era songs, contrasting the different fates of Aboriginal and non-indigenous returned servicemen.
How interesting that in the 2020s, Aboriginal people like Victoria's Djadja Wurrung people are still fighting to save ancestral birthing and ceremonial trees, from both highway construction and racist vandals. Shame.
Wesley Enoch is related to poet Oogeroo Noonuccal, or Kath Walker, a well known writer and artist from the twentieth century.

[Bree Glasbergen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gritty, no-nonsense story rides the waves of emotion from nostalgia right the way through to deep seeded trauma. In parts there are reckonings and in others a mix of realism and the fantastic coming together to weave a story of family. I would deeply love to see this performed live and am sure Leah Purcell as Annie would have added a bunch more depth than I can elicit from a page. I really loved the playwrights use of punctuation to guide rhythm including having brackets to indicate what a character is thinking and that these may or may not need to be spoken. This adds so much room for actor and director interpretation.

[Noah Melser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enoch's play looks at impact of memories and family. Nicely controlled with scenes of past and present slowly revealing lives of characters. Direct and straight play.