“MY INTERVENTION is basically a mini-musical where we are going through all of the reasons why I’m “fucked up” and why I deserve to have an intervention.
And it’s about mental health and your own neuroses and ego and narcissism, but it’s in a funny way, in a cute way.”
“I have a lot of opinions about things that film could learn from theatre and things that theatre could learn from film. And one of my opinions is that, oftentimes, the character in theatre is incredible. It is so far and beyond anything you see in film, but the structure and storytelling of theatre can sometimes be lacking.
I’m such a story person I’m such a structured person. If you’re wanting theatre that tells you a story, that takes you on a journey, that has a payoff at the end; come to this play.”
“I think that’s the beauty of theatre— instead of attacking people and saying “You need to support sex work” you can invite them to observe the reality of the world, instead of the media stereotype. And so, you start to break down that stigma that we have a society about the sex industry.
Theatre is a safe way to experience things without actually experiencing them.”
My sixth Sydney Fringe Interview is Lucy Yabsley, a member of the Dollhouse theatre Collective, who is making her solo directorial debut with A Thousand Words at Fringe this week. We got together to chat about Dollhouse, directing for the first time, and why we all need light-hearted and fun theatre after two years of…
“Considering the last two years that we’ve had, I really wanted to create a show that was a fun time.
Forget about your work day, forget about life for an hour, and come on this Katy Perry journey with me.”
“The show is about the relationship between life and music. It’s about how life moves forward, just like music does. And it’s about how a song doesn’t exist without the notes that come before it
And no one listens to a song waiting for it to end, and that’s kind of like life.”
For my third Sydney Fringe interview, I chatted to Declan Dowling, the writer and one of the performers of Please Hire Us, one of the shows in Little Triangle’s Musical Chairs: A Cabaret Series. We spoke about cabaret, A Chorus Line, and the plight of young artists trying to get hired. Please note, this interview…
“For so long growing up, I never saw myself represented on stage, and now having the opportunity to not only represent myself on stage, but to represent my partner who is trans, has really made the world of difference.
It’s given me so much of a greater understanding of why we write and why we create.”
“I want young people to see the show because I always try to impart on people to treat their family and their mothers better. I think it’s an important show for anyone to see who has parents, because I think it provides a valuable perspective to re-evaluate your own relationship with your parents that you might later reflect on after they’re gone.”
“What I would love is for Sydney to start to understand how important swings are. There still seems to be a hangover about it, and I’ve had to really get it across to some people: It’s swings that are really keeping the industry running at this point.
Swings are— in my mind—absolutely remarkable, incredible artists and they should be celebrated.”
Padilla’s script is urgent and contemporary, although a little underdeveloped. However, Barrie and her team have taken the writing as it is, and created an impressive, powerful production that demands to be heard.
Albion is an ambitious production of a formidable text that explores big ideas about humanity, class, family and social change. It’s a thought-provoking work of writing that has stayed with me all week. To successfully stage Bartlett’s intimidating and ideas-heavy text is a tall order, especially for an indie production, and Clements and the team have a real crack at it. An admirable attempt at a difficult text, Bartlett’s writing, combined with Briant’s lead performance and Langford’s thoughtful design makes this an impressive and thought-provoking night out at the theatre.
Scribbles of Stage and Screen 