Her Greek heritage in an award-winning cabaret performance entitled "A Migrant's Son", will be presented tomorrow at Riverside Theatres, in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta, by Greek Australian actress Michaela Burger.
The show pays tribute to her Greek immigrant family and her hard-working father Luke.
The play charts Michaela Burger's family's 100-year history from Russia to the Australian countryside, following the hardship, ingenuity, and tragedy inherent in all immigrant stories.
Speaking on SBS Greek, Ms Burger says this story was based on her father, the son of Greek immigrants, who has inspired her throughout her life, seizing the opportunity she was given when she was commissioned to write this show for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
She refers to her great-grandfather who was fighting for the Greeks in Russia when a visit from the then King of Greece, whom his describes as rich with a big belly while him and the rest of the soldiers were cold and starving, was the excuse to escape the fury of war, ending up in Melbourne and Australia.
"When I started writing the show about Dad, I realised that all the qualities I admired in him had actually come from all our ancestors before us. So then I realised that the show needed to start in one place, but then go back more to my grandmother than my great-grandfather and how he left Greece to save the family," she said.
At the same time, she spoke of the importance for her and her sisters to understand where they come from and how this privilege they have comes from a lot of sacrifice, a lot of tears and a lot of perseverance.
"I also think it's important for our next generation. So my sisters both have two sons each and it's important for them to understand where they've come from and how this privilege that we've all had has come from a lot of sacrifice, a lot of tears, a lot of perseverance. And that's how we've actually had the wonderful lives that we have thanks to our ancestors," she said.
Listen more by clicking play on the podcast of the main photo.
