Performance review: The Offering, Riverside Theatres

If this opening show for Riverside Theatres’ Heartland Festival is any indication of things to come, it’s going to be an amazing program. The Offering is a symbiotic mesh of poetry, music and imagery presented by rapper/poet/writer Omar Musa and musician/composer Mariel Roberts Musa. Both are highly acclaimed in their respective fields, and together on stage they are absolutely mesmerising. 

The Offering is a personal narrative told through a series of poems accompanied by original music and sounds played live. Omar Musa shares a family history that begins in Borneo with his grandparents and parents, and then moves to his own childhood in Australia. He uses nature: the jungle, animals, a volcano and, in particular, the ocean, as leitmotifs, integrating biography with commentary on the environment –  its beauty and its destruction at the hands of humans. 

Musa’s poems are elegantly constructed, sophisticated yet accessible. His delivery is like a verbal ballet, moving at a graceful pace, with leaps and flourishes for emphasis. His cadence, eloquence, the velvety raw timbre of his voice, his expressive hands and face, all combine to create an hypnotic storytelling experience. 

Projected onto the wall behind Musa are digitised images of his woodcut prints, reflecting the substance of his stories and enhancing the immersive experience.

On stage with Omar Musa is renowned US cellist and composer, Mariel Roberts Musa. To call her a cellist, however, undersells what she does with the instrument. In her dexterous hands and at the mercy of a robust imagination, the cello produces completely unexpected sounds, sometimes melodic, sometimes atonal, sometimes piercing. 

Roberts Musa’s playing is a controlled chaos, dynamic and exciting. She uses the cello percussively, almost as foley, creating squeals, whistles, beats, even the sound of breathing. Using a loop machine, Roberts Musa creates a musical bed over which she plays, expanding the soundscape into something near cinematic. At other times, she draws the bow across the strings with emotional honesty, underscoring some of the more poignant moments in Omar Musa’s narration. 

Cellist and poet individually are stunning; together they are truly magical. 

The Offering has only a brief run at Riverside Theatres and it is not to be missed. 

Read: Theatre review: Super, Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre

The Heartland Festival is presented by National Theatre of Parramatta and will run at Riverside Theatres until 5 July. The program features over 50 local and international artists presenting a range of works across theatre, comedy and spoken word, and including workshops and delicious food. It is a celebration of the creative soul of Western Sydney. 

The Offering (A Plastic Ocean Oratorio)
Lennox Theatre, Riverside Theatres
Writer and performer: Omar Musa
Musician and performer: Mariel Roberts Musa
Outside Eye: Phil Spencer
Production Design: Andrew D Potvin
Stage Manager: Dylan Ford

The Offering will be performed until 28 June 2025.