Artist of the Month

What inspired you to get involved in theatre?

I was drawn to live performance from when I was little and saw a violinist playing in a live band at a barn-dance. My grandpa was a church organist and my grandma sung in his choir, so my musical upbringing (which started on a cardboard violin at five) was heavily influenced by them and their love of Bach. By sixteen, I had to pick one instrument to focus on between viola and voice, and after singing the lead role in my first operetta, voice was an easy first choice. Opera combined extreme musical artistry with elite technique and felt like a place where it was socially acceptable to share the most intense of emotions – and I loved it.

What’s lead you to where you are today?

Health challenges have driven a lot of it – between respiratory infections that would see me completely lose my voice for months at a time, and degenerative arthritis which causes me so much back pain, it was a questionable choice to pursue a career that is so reliant on the physical body. But when it’s the one thing I was great at loved more than life, what else was I going to do.

I got a BMUS in classical voice from the Conservatorium in Adelaide, then the government cut our course funding, so I had to go elsewhere if I wanted to pursue postgrad. At the time WAAPA was the only place in the country that offered postgrad studies in performance rather than a written thesis, so off to WA I went to do the graduate diploma in classical voice.

I lost my voice at the start of the year when I moved to Perth, and for two years it didn’t come back. I participated in what non-practical subjects I could, but soon transferred over to Honours so I could at least work toward something. After years of trying to give my voice plenty of rest and taking breaks from study and performance in the hope that it’d heal. Getting some concrete health diagnoses helped me to finally accept I had to let opera singing go.

When I tried to examine what it is I loved so much about opera, it would always come back to connecting with the audience. Sharing stories with people who want to be moved. Being an audience member can be such a transformative experience, and sharing that connection from on stage is an incredible and addictive feeling. A friend who runs OutInPerth arts magazine asked me to review an upcoming opera, and the rest is history. Reviewing has allowed me to use my knowledge and experience in a way that feels meaningful to me.

Where does your investment in the theatre world sit?

I’m invested in seeing the arts valued, financially backed and comprehensively supported so they can continue to reflect and nourish society. We use theatre to open minds and challenge attitudes. We use arts to make sense of the world. When I think about current productions doing really well – the majority of them hold a mirror up to our current society. From fighting for human rights, to the importance of love and connection in a world that feels kind of dystopian right now – arts brings people together to share in an empathetic experience and feel connected to others, and right now, that feels even more pertinent than ever.

Are there any areas you find are most important to highlight?

The importance of making theatre more accessible for both creators and patrons. It’s blown my mind to find out that this year, Jenna Bainbridge was the first wheelchair using performer to portray the role of Wicked‘s Nessa Rose on Broadway. It’s wonderful to see this authentic casting, but how has it taken 20+ years for this to happen? That’s twenty years of panels of professionals auditioning and casting able bodied people for a wheelchair bound character. This level of oversight is both unbelievable and unsurprising. The next step is seeing disabled performers playing non-disabled characters – this may not translate to a dance heavy roles, but I’ve seen so many productions recently where I think it could have successfully and easily cast someone with mobility limitations who is just as skilled.

When I’m reviewing shows, it’s hard to ignore that audiences are usually made up of a pretty privileged demographic of people. I’m interested to see how that can change in a world where creating performance is so expensive that creators cant really reduce ticket prices – even mainstage theatre and opera companies are constantly forfeiting any possibility of profit for the sake of providing high quality work and taking risks on platforming newer works. (This does not apply to opera companies who go millions of dollars into debt producing works with such high production value visuals and aesthetics that it misses the point of what theatre making is really about.)

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

Lows: Watching the decline of the live arts, but particularly the opera landscape in Australia over the last fifteen yeas. The lengths that opera companies are going to in order to engage with and stay relevant amongst contemporary audiences is extreme, and more often than not, these adaptations come at the cost of the quality of the work. But they have to do something – opera tickets in Australia rarely have great ticket sales.

Highs: Reviewing Sydney Theatre Company and Queensland Theatre Company’s co-production of Cost of Living last year will never leave me and not just because of the nudity (ha!). Cost of Living is an examination of privilege and the need for human connection. It explores the importance of following a social model rather than just medical model in disability support. STCs co-production with QTC was Australia’s first mainstage production to have an equal ratio of disabled and non disabled artists both on stage as well as working within the creative team and unsurprisingly, it was of an exceptional standard. I think what made it so empowering for me was seeing the writing represent characters with both a born and acquired disability, and seeing them being accommodated on with such grace and normality – it didn’t feel like an accommodation, but simply an insight into what that persons’ normal looks like. Seeing Dan Daw and Kate Hood‘s performances changed something in my brain chemistry – to witness disabled performers given the content and platform to deliver such high quality performances was pretty magical.

My other highlight would be getting to interview artists I admire and adore. Through reviewing publications, I’ve interviewed one of my favourite sopranos, Samantha Clarke, as well as international cabaret icon Bernie Deiter. I’ve loved learning about their processes, the discipline and commitment it’s taken to get where they are today, and how much of themselves they give to their characters. I think that’s what sets them apart from other artists for me – they both bring extreme humanity to every role which leaves audiences feeling seen and touched.

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

I moved to Sydney partly to be closer to my nieces, but also to be closer to the country’s liveliest arts scene. I want to continue connecting with artists and reviewing a variety of productions of different genres while bringing my training background and passion for a blossoming and accessible arts industry to my writing. Reviewing has allowed me to see over 50 productions in the last few years – the majority of which I wouldn’t have been able to attend without Theatre Thoughts. I’ve been challenged, empowered, inspired, offended, influenced, and moved by the theatre I get to consume and review – it encourages me to examine my own creative practises, inspires me to connect with a wider breadth of artistic genres and has re-lit a flame in my soul that I thought I’d never get back after losing opera singing.