Artist of the Month

What inspired you to get involved in theatre?

I’ve wanted to be a performer for as long as I can remember. My favourite movie was Sound of Music, which I watched everyday (this is not an exaggeration). I did drama and music at school and I really wanted to audition for NIDA after school, but I didn’t end up going to my audition, I was too scared! Being an actor felt so out of reach for me – especially 10 years ago when there weren’t many South Asian actors in Western media. I did a couple of community musicals in early university but even stopped doing those! I went to UNSW (ironically, opposite from the NIDA building) and studied law and international studies, which I really loved. But performing really took a backseat for me until 2021. 

Do you remember the moment you wanted to do this as a career?

I honestly didn’t think it was possible for me to be an actor, or artist in general until 2021. It was after the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 changed the way we as a society viewed racism. Before, racism was seen as isolated incidents between individuals  – the discussion after 2020 was about how racism is often embedded in society, in a subtle and dangerous way. The shift in society made the performing arts industry take notice, and it made me realise that maybe there could be a space for people of colour, people like me.

It all came together one night in 2021 when I saw Hamilton at the Sydney Lyric Theatre, with an all Australian cast. I cried at the end of the show, blown away by the performers who were mostly people of colour. Up until that point I had not seen a commercial musical theatre show that showed the diversity of Australia. I remember wishing that I had taken a chance like those performers had – and maybe if I had taken that chance I could have been up there with them. My husband pushed me to give it a try and I wouldn’t be here now without that push and all those little and big moments. I write about this in more detail in a Substack article I wrote if you want to read more! (LINK – https://open.substack.com/pub/anushathomassubscribed/p/an-incomplete-account-of-how-i-went?r=5tpemx&utm_medium=ios ). 

What have been the highs of your career so far? What have been the lows?

Obviously the big things like being in HAMILTON in Sydney, on the same stage, in the same show that changed my life! That was a full circle moment you don’t often get in life and I definitely cried buckets of grateful tears during that season. 

But truly I have loved every show that I’ve done, because of the people I’ve worked with. Metropolis (Little Eggs Collective) was the best, most nurturing, introduction to the industry I could have ever asked for. Making Aurat Raj with a beautiful team of women, many of them South Asian, was a precious experience. The Lost Boys taught me I was a theatre-maker not just an actor. The Dismissal (still my dad’s favourite musical ever) made me excited about Australian stories and Australian music. I’ve done a number of developments for phenomenal new works as well (look out for Lincoln Elliot’s Artefact – that is going to blow your mind). 

Most recently I was part of The Lucky Country, a show born out of Vidya Makan’s desire to make a space for the people on the margins of Australia. That piece of theatre is deeply hilarious and deeply healing and I was privileged to be a part of it.

There’s a long list of people who have been exceptionally generous with their investment in me and have shaped me into the artist I am becoming. I’m so proud of Australian art and Australian artists. When it’s good – it’s world class.

I came from a profession where work is consistent and income is (generally) reliable. Being an artist is the opposite of that. In Australia – the annual average income based on creative work alone is $23,200 (2021-2022 data). Almost everybody is working other jobs between the gigs that they love. You rarely get to be “just an artist” –  you’re a small business. Marketing, accounts, legal,  – you have to do it all.  

I’ve had to change my mindset to recognise the value in my work—even if the “market” says it’s worth $0. And honestly that’s been hard for this immigrant kid who was supposed to be a lawyer. 

I love this industry so much but it’s hard to balance all the pressures to make it work. Now, I’m trying to view my life more as an integrated ecosystem. Trying to value all the work I do: whether that work is “artistic” or not, whether I’m making money, or not, or even if I have to take time off altogether to be there for my friends and family. All of it makes for a rich life, and I’m very lucky to be living it. 

Where do you see yourself going/want to go next?