By Holly McGuinness
Regardless of your views on Ned Kelly, actress Nikki Langford from Sunshine West is a woman who’s enthusiasm is utterly infectious.
Langford is preparing to take her one woman show ‘Ned Kelly’s Mother’ across the globe next month to the world’s largest fringe festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The production follows Ellen Kelly (played by Ms Langford) throughout milestone moments of the outlaw mothers life over a 55 minute performance that’s complete with traditional Irish Ballads.
The production was written by playwright Neil Cole with Langford cast in the first production that was shown on Chapel Street in 2018.
Langford describes the character she plays as a passionate and fiery Irish woman who spoke her mind and was unfairly demonised by the press from the actions of her son, Ned Kelly.
Langford, who has been acting for almost as long as she could speak, said the similarities of Ellen Kelly’s story relates all too much to the struggles that immigrant women and single mothers still face today.
“I work a lot with migrant communities and I see the same thing is that all the focus and all the spotlight is on the young men and the women who just want what every mother wants, the best for her children” said Langford.
Playwright Neil Cole wrote in regards to Government support provided to Ellen Kelly as a free settler to support her family was “enough not to starve, not enough to survive.”
“That for me sums everything up, everything that happened to her, every situation she found herself in, just enough to prevent starvation” said Langford.
The last Australian and only Melbourne performance of ‘Ned Kelly’s Mother’ before Langford jetts off to Edinburgh will be held at Sunshine Community Theatre on Saturday, 23rd July 2022.
