Theatre Works Midsumma Program

MIDSUMMA THEATRE WORKS PROGRAM

11 JA N - 3 FEB 2013

DIVINE TEMP TATION..!

VINACEOUS KNOWS THAT EVERYONE HAS TO DEAL WITH TEMPTATIONS; AFTER ALL, WHO CAN RESIST? WE ALL DESIRE TO HAVE OUR EYES WIDE OPEN AND BE DIVINE BEINGS, BUT YOU CAN’T HAVE THE WISDOM WITHOUT COMMITTING THE FIRST SIN! VINACEOUS FORBIDDEN FRUIT PEAR CIDER IS PURE LIQUID REFRESHMENT AND LIKE THE GOOD BOOK SAYS, THERE’S NO SHAME IN HAVING A LITTLE HEAVEN ON EARTH SO, WE HOPE YOU SIN A LOT THIS MIDSUMMA!

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Theatre Works’s Creative Producer

DANIEL CLARKE on Midsumma...

Why does Theatre Works produce a Midsumma season?

I think Midsumma is one of the most important queer arts and cultural festivals in Australia. It provides a fantastic opportunity for us to program the most contemporary and exciting queer artists making work today. The vibe at Theatre Works during Midsumma is so much fun; people coming together to watch theatre, gaining an insight into some really interesting stories and artists. If you see all three shows at Theatre Works you are guaranteed to have a really diverse and rich experience. I think Midsumma is a great way for us to start the year….bold work from around our country – we bring artists and audiences together, encouraging conversations and connections. Midsumma audiences are always so much fun too and it is lovely to hang outside Theatre Works with a glass of wine and take in the atmosphere before and after the shows.

How do you program your Midsumma season?

I look at a lot of work and speak to artists whose work I have been following to see what may be available. I try to get a mix of local work and either international or interstate work. I’m always keen to support emerging artists as well as established artists. Interestingly all of the shows in this Midsumma season have premiered outside of Melbourne – so I’m really pleased to be able to bring them to Melbourne audiences. I find that programming the Midsumma season ends up being pretty organic unlike some of our other seasons which are curated in a more structured and formal way. I think these three shows will really bring lots of different people into Theatre Works.

What is your favourite Midsumma memory?

Too many! Midsumma 2012 was my first time programming at Theatre Works and we had some pretty huge opening nights. Artists and audiences mingling into the night after seeing some fabulous theatre. There was a Midsumma in 2008 that I came over to from Adelaide and went to a great Transgender weekend at Gasworks. I remember the Tiwi Island Sister Girls. I loved their performance and their spirit! This was also the year that I came across Glace Chase who I’ve kept in contact with ever since. His performance at the Butterfly Club was totally outrageous and so so wrong! I loved it.

a quickie with

ASH FLANDERS Star of

PSYCHO BEACH PARTY

How would you describe your show in 3 words?

Leopard Print Luau!!!

Why should people come and see your show?

Where else are you going to see psychotic cross-dressers, submissive straight men, Joan Crawford mothers, dance sequences, young love AND people surfing LIVE ON STAGE?!?

Why Midsumma?

Because at the heart of this campy show is the idea that we should celebrate the fact we’re all different. It’s a message relevant not only to people in the GLBTIQ community, but to anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider. Plus we’re offering hot guys in bikinis, so…

Who inspires you and why?

Anyone who has the courage to wear orange. It’s not easy.

If you could have six people (dead or alive) at a dinner party who would they be?

Dolly Parton, Quentin Crisp, Tuckerbag, Rupaul, Tinky-winky and Bette Davis.

If you were a flavour of ice-cream what would you be and why?

Rainbow. Because I’m bold, gay and tasteless.

Memory of St Kilda….

A group of us started a tradition of ending Christmas day every year by getting pleasantly drunk on St. Kilda beach.

It’s the perfect place to forget that earlier that day your mother drunkenly fell into the rose bush and your sister accidentally assaulted your aunt (both true stories).

Most fun you have had at a queer arts and cultural festival?

Being put up in a hotel room in Dublin for the Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. One level of the hotel was filled only with queer artists. We drank, we laughed, we fell in love, and someone else picked up the tab!

Image by Sarah Walker

GETTING HERE & GETTING TICKETS. 14 Ac l Booki and St, S ngs: t 03 95 Kilda 34 33 88

THE DEAD ONES Written and performed by Margie Fischer

Presented by Vitalstatistix Theatre Company, Margie Fischer and Theatre Works

An exploration of memory, death, family and the power of objects through story telling and photography.

Margie Fischer’s solo show explores death, memory, family and the power of objects through storytelling and photography.

Car parking Parking is at a premium in St Kilda. We recommend arriving early and leaving yourself plenty of time for parking. Alternatively, you could use the paying car park at the Prince of Wales Hotel which is located on the corner of Acland and Fitzroy Streets or in the council run car park next to Luna Park in Shakespeare Grove.

Public transport Theatre Works is easily reached by public transport. Train and bus services provide regular stops and pick-ups within the Fitzroy and Acland Street shopping precincts, both just a short walk from Theatre Works.

Tram: 16, 96, 112, 79 Buses: 600, 606,623, 246 Ticketing information Internet Secure online credit card bookings can be made 24 hours a day be visiting theatreworks.org.au Please bring your proof of payment to the theatre Phone Booking can be made by calling 03 9534 3388 between 10am-3pm, Monday to Friday Door The box office opens 45 minutes before the show. Unless SOLD OUT, a number of tickets are available at the door each night.

Please note: While all care has been taken to ensure that information is correct at the time of printing, the details within this publication are subject to change. Please see theatreworks. org.au for latest information concerning all productions, including dates, times and ticket prices.

After everyone in her family died, Margie was left to clear out their house. She became fascinated with what is left behind when loved ones die and documented her feelings and the processes involved. The Dead Ones explores her family stories through the objects left behind.

Margie Fischer is a writer, performer, founder and former Artistic Director of Feast, Adelaide’s Queer Festival. She is a very funny Jewish lesbian. Her solo show The Gay Divorcee exploring divorce and separation from a lesbian perspective for everyone was a critically acclaimed hit nationally.

Come and see what’s fascinating Margie now.

Story telling that is part theatre, part slideshow, part wake, part homage to William Yang, The Dead Ones is a deeply moving personal journey into Margie Fischer’s family that has resonances for us all.

“Raw and beautiful’” The Advertiser “Deftly weighted, beautifully detailed, sharply perceptive, full of feeling and tender pragmatism” The Australian 29 Jan- 3 Feb Tues 29 Jan to Sat 2 Feb at 7.30pm Sat 2 Feb 2:00pm & Sun 3 Feb 5:00pm Duration: 75mins Written and performed by Margie Fischer Directed by Catherine Fitzgerald Designed by Kathryn Sproul Lighting Design by Justin Pennington

Image by Sarah Walker

Image by Richard Hedger

PSYCHO BEACH HERE LIES HENRY PARTY A M idsum ma Prem ier Ev ent

by Daniel MacIvor

by Charles Busch

Presented by Little Ones Theatre and Theatre Works

Presented by TurnAround Productions and Theatre Works

The perfect bipolar summertime party in St Kilda!

An intriguing comedy/drama that promises to keep you in a constant state of arousal

Charles Busch’s camp classic Psycho Beach Party follows

the schizophrenic world of Chicklet, a Gidget-esque nerd with a dream to surf. When people in the town are attacked in strange sadomasochistic ways, it is up to the surf-bums and a B-Grade Horror star to find the culprit and save Chicklet from her potentially lethal sexual awakening.

The Victorian premiere production of the cult Canadian play.

This production boasts a cross-gendered cast, sixties surf rock hits, and an appreciation of the perverse. Its classic Busch meets the golden age of Hollywood and the homo-eroticism of Point Break.

He is a man with a mission to tell us something we don’t already know.

But who is Henry and why does he have such a compulsive aversion to the truth?!

Here Lies Henry challenges the conventional relationship between actor and audience and spins it completely on its head in a powerful exploration of purpose and humanity.

Provocative and uncompromising, this compelling comedy/drama about life, love, lies and the body in the next room is as elusive as it is enlightening and as profound as it is laugh-out-loud funny.

“This is a perfect theatrical fit” Sydney Morning Herald

“A

perfect dollop of summertime silliness” Time Out Magazine

11-19 Jan at 7:30pm No show on Sunday (because they’ll be at Carnival!)

Duration: 8o minutes Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo Set Design by Owen Phillips Costume/Hair/Make Up Design by Eugyeene Teh and Tessa Pitt Lighting Design by Katie Sfetkidis Sound Design by Nate Edmondson Choreography by Kurt Phelan Stage Managed by Rebecca Poulter With Ash Flanders, Genevieve Giuffre , Peter Paltos, Caitlin Adams, Kevin Kiernan Molloy, Zoe Boesen, and Paul Blenheim, Tom Dent, Amanda McGregor

“...hilarious. You have to see this thing. It’s quite a mindf**k”

Henry seems a little on edge.

Henry is a great big tease and definitely the one to see.

“Matthew Hyde manages to flawlessly deliver an exceedingly complex text that is riveting from start to finish. Not to mention nuanced. Without a doubt, even with several months of unseen acting to come, his must stand as one of the best showings of 2012” Australian Stage “In the crowded hit-and-miss of this year’s Sydney Fringe Festival program, here’s a show one you can bank on.”

Jason Blake, Sydney Morning Herald Senior Critic 22 Jan- 27 Jan at 7:30pm Duration: 7o minutes Directed by Jason Langley Performed by Matthew Hyde Produced by Paul Whiteley for TurnAround Productions Lighting Design by Blake Garner Sound Design by James Luscombe Production Management by Issy Stadler

Interview with

MARGIE FISCHER

writer and performer of The Dead Ones

Why did you feel like it was important to tell this story?

When my mother died unexpectedly I was left to organise her funeral and do everything involved in clearing out the house she lived in. Everyone in my family had already died so it was left to me. I felt that I needed to honour the people in my family and their stories, which were embedded in the objects in the house.

The story of my family and their lives is a remarkable one: They were Austrian Jews who escaped the Holocaust to China, where they lived for ten years, before arriving in Australia as refugees.

What has happened to them here has resonance for many. Plus, most of us will go through the experience of sorting through what is left of a life when a loved one dies.

At what point in the grieving process did you think about making a theatre piece?

Or, when did the decision to do it happen?

I wrote 60,000 words over 18 months, starting on the plane to Sydney the day my mother died. At first I didn’t think about what the writing was for, I just knew that I had to write. I thought maybe a book? However photographic images were such an integral part of the work, and the storytelling style of my writing, plus the fact that I am a performer, made me realise I could make it into a show. I then began to edit what I wrote to refine my writing into this performance piece.

With material that is so close to you, how did you decide what parts of your family’s story to use?

The script of The Dead Ones is taken almost word for word from the original writing I did sitting in each room of may parents’ house as I was doing the work of clearing it out. It is edited from a much longer draft and I made decisions on what to cut based on what I thought was most powerful for my audience.

Catherine Fitzgerald, my Director, also worked with me on editing.

There are many different ways that these stories could be have been brought to the stage? Please tell us more about the genre and style of your work, and why you decided to present it in this way?

There was very little choice involved as the genre and style of the stories and performance came directly from who I am, from what I spontaneously wrote, and the objects and photographs I was sorting through. So, the genre is storytelling; it is documentary theatre; it is a performance monologue. It is me sharing what I experienced with others in a special space – the theatre.

One of the remarkable things in the work is that you are talking about such potentially emotional material and yet there seems to be a detachment to the content? Is this a considered choice?

How do you cope with talking about such personal material?

The events that are the story of The Dead Ones are now in my past. Every time I perform the work I honour my family and their lives and memories. Being able to do this is a privilege for me. I am not detached, I am honouring. This isn’t a considered choice, it is how I am; it comes naturally.

I love talking about personal material and have done so in much of my work. The Gay Divorcee, my one-woman show, is about divorce and separation from a lesbian perspective, for everyone.

It is based on my life, and so full of personal experiences and people love it. Stand-up comedy is often about making personal experiences funny and I do this in my work. This time, however, I didn’t write a comedy, even though there are some funny bits in The Dead Ones.

What is the process of working with a director on a very personal story such as this?

I loved working with Catherine Fitzgerald on The Dead Ones. I rarely get to perform my own work as I am always developing other people’s work, having ideas for projects, hustling the money, co-ordinating teams of arts workers and community

Catherine Fitzgerald a quickie with

Director of

The Dead Ones

How would you describe your show in 3 words?

Judith Butler and didn’t invite her.

Moving, insightful and quirky

• Roseanne Barr – she is political, funny and crass – a great combination

Why should people come and see your show?

• Amanda Muggleton – she is oh so very funny, and she always brings great champagne! !

Who inspires you and why?

If you were a flavour of ice-cream what would you be and why?

Because it is full of heart, humour and love…and Margie is a lesbian • Pink – she ‘s spunky, she’s pink! …she can sing…and she legend. likes to drink Penfold’s Grange Hermitage (so that would cover the reds) Why Midsumma?

3 Jews, 2 lesos, 2 actors, 1 Irish woman, 6 very smart women…

Because Margie is a lesbian legend. all BIG personalities who would be competing for air space!!!!

Margie Fischer because I think she is one of Australia’s most interesting performance artist and she is passionate about art and making the world a better place. She is a great supporter of queer cultural events. She is also a really compassionate and fair person.

If you could have six people (dead or alive) to a dinner party who would they be?

• I guess after that rave there would be no choice but to have Margie Fischer at the table (see above)

• Judith Butler - one of the greatest philosophers of our contemporary age – great on gender, great on Israel … and she’s Jewish…that is why she is so great on Israel.

• Eileen Darley – great actor, great singer, great politics, smart as, and she’s kill me if she knew I had dinner with

Lemon- lime ripple… …er obvious!!!

Memory of St Kilda….

Pashing a most gorgeous woman on Beaconsfield Parade on a very chilly evening.

Most fun you have had at a queer arts and cultural festival?

Dancing to JPY live!! “Love is in the Air” at the Mardi Gras in 1993?

It was working in the Mardi Gras workshop that year and we had just finished huge long days and nights - getting the parade up and running. We had just knocked off work and JPY was the surprise midnight guest. I was exhausted, exhilarated all at once.

members to bring their stories to life. Having a director just for me was luxury. Catherine is a highly experienced fantastic Director who respected my work , her insight and skill was essential to the work. I did often stick up for what I wanted in the script although Catherine did insist sometimes and I had to let go. Mostly, I did trust Catherine – we had fun. I loved the attention!

How have audiences responded to the works so far?

Audiences have been captivated and moved. They’ve identified personally and loved the combination of images and text. After the show many people have stayed to speak to me about their experiences and how much the show meant to them. The show has layers of meaning and embraces a variety of subjects that speak to people across many experiences. As I am a child of refugees, a Jew, and a lesbian, the show is rich with material for audiences to respond to. And, dealing with death and its aftermath is something that everyone has to do at some time.

The show, however, is celebratory and people always tell me this.

The title may indicate that the work is challenging, depressing and heavy… but it isn’t? How would you describe it?

I did think of changing the name because I was worried the title might put people off. Then I thought, ‘fuck that’. The show is about the people in my family who are now dead, and I thought the title was catchy – as long as it had a by- line. The by-line I like for theatregoers is: An exploration of death, memory, family and the power of objects through storytelling and photography.

Theatregoers, especially during a Festival, are looking for edgy shows; they appreciate work that is different, covers unexplored territory, is beautiful and moves them in new ways. My show does that. It truly does. I know – I’ve done it before and got great reviews and audience response.

What relevance does The Dead Ones have to a queer audience?

Firstly, the work is written by a Jewish lesbian, which makes this work a CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) performance.

These voices are a part of queer culture.

The Dead Ones is written from my own experience as the daughter of Holocaust survivors, as a daughter of stateless refugees, who responded to the prevailing culture in Australia in the 1950s and ‘60s as outsiders. This was the time I grew up. Who I am and my perspective on life and my sexuality, is rooted in being an outsider – a minority. The Dead Ones reflects this.

What relevance is The Dead Ones to a Jewish audience?

Being a Jew is part of my being. It was harder for me to come out as a Jew in the queer community than it was coming out as a lesbian. Prior to the Nazi rule in Austria my parents considered themselves Austrian first, and Jews second. This changed forever when they lived through the horrors of the Nazi era. The majority of my family died in concentration camps. There was a significant Jewish community in Shanghai who had escaped Europe and the history of Jews in China is beginning to be documented.

Jews appreciate my show deeply, as do other refugees. They laugh at the Jewish humour and fragments of Yiddish. I grew up speaking Yiddish and Austrian at home. My grandparents never learnt English and my parents did not speak English with each other. The papers they kept, that I became the custodian of, included the official Nazi form where Jews had to list the contents of the one bag they were allowed to take with them when they were forced to leave their home.

Matthew Hyde a quickie with

Actor, Here Lies Henry

How would you describe your show in 3 words?

Funny, profound and sexy

Why should people come and see your show?

It confronts the audience by turning the very relationship that usually exists between the actor and the audience on its head. It’s as funny as it is profound, as serious as it is irreverent and it will take you on a wild theatrical journey. It will certainly give you a bang for your buck. Plus you get to see me naked.

Why the Midsumma Festival?

Midsumma is one of the biggest and best queer arts and cultural festivals, so it’s an honour to introduce Henry (a gay character, created by a gay playwright) to the Midsumma crowd. I think anyone who wants to enjoy and celebrate our queer arts culture simply has to see Here Lies Henry. I’ve also heard the Melbourne men are pretty hot and have a tendency to take their tops off...

Who inspires you and why?

People with a strong, unique and passionate voice for story telling, fellow artists and creatives who despite overwhelming odds are driven by their skill, talent and desire to communicate with an audience. It would have to be my partner however who inspires me the most, I couldn’t do what I do or be who I am if I didn’t have him.

If you could have 6 people dead or alive to a dinner party who would they be?

Jesus so I could ask WTF? Shakespeare, the Queen after gin o’clock, Judi Dench, Amy Winehouse but only if she’s bringing dessert and Hitler - again so I could ask WTF? If you were a flavour of ice cream what would you be and why?

Rocky Road - essentially sweet but also a little nuts.

Memory of St Kilda?

A late breakfast at Acland St followed by a session at The Prince of Wales.

Most fun you’ve had at a queer arts and cultural festival?

That is strictly between you, me and a bottle of poppers. I think I may have to invoke my right to silence on the grounds I may incriminate myself. Then again, ask me after Midsumma Matt Hyde, Actor and Jason Langley, Director. Image by Richard Hedger

HERE LIES HENRY

Actor Matt Hyde will expose himself in every sense in his first ever one-man show, Here Lies Henry, writes Garrett Bithell.

Henry is on stage alone. He has 70 minutes to tell us something we don’t already know, otherwise the play can’t end and he can’t leave.

emerging artists and companies feel every time they put on their first show.”

On a personal level, Here Lies Henry is Hyde’s first-ever one-man show. “I rather naively “Exactly why he is there and why he is so didn’t even think about it until we started desperate to tell you something isn’t made rehearsals,” he says. “It was then that I had that clear until the end, when we are treated to moment of wondering what the hell I’d let a life-shattering moment in the theatre – an myself in for and why I’d even agreed to do it. epiphany,” actor Matt Hyde, who plays Henry, It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. You tells us. “So it’s something of a mystery – a are so alone with only yourself and the power thriller of sorts.” of your imagination, and as a result you feel incredibly vulnerable. It’s a very different skill Therein lies the premise of Here Lies Henry set and it’s challenging everything that I am, – pardon the pun – which received its both as an actor and a person.”

Australian premiere as part of this year’s Sydney Fringe Festival and will receive its Despite the fact Hyde lets it all hang out Victorian premiere as part of Midsumma in the promo shots, we will witness a more at Theatre Works. Written by Canadian metaphorical nakedness on stage. “Henry playwright Daniel MacIvor, the piece defies is shoved on a stage in front of an audience traditional narrative structure and challenges with no preparation and told to tell them the conventional relationship between something they don’t already know,” he tells. audience and actor, slowly revealing an “There is nowhere to hide, and we see the exploration of purpose and humanity in the usual guards and masks that we all use in process. our life slip away and he is left so completely and utterly exposed. He is stripped bare “It is also very meta-theatrical,” Hyde says. “A emotionally, mentally and also physically. Also, man thrust on stage and told to speak to a I do believe there will be a time in the not too room full of people, some of whom he knows distant future when people will be paying me and others whom he doesn’t. Watching him to keep my clothes on as an actor. Until that desperately trying to achieve his objective, time I kind of think why not just let it all hang desperately wanting to be liked, to be funny, out?” to be loved, to be interesting, is what actors do every night on stage. It’s what new and This article originally appeared in SX Magazine

An interview with

STEPHEN N ICOLAZZO What is Little Ones Theatre and how did it form?

Little Ones Theatre began as a platform for a group of emerging artists to experiment with new writing and contemporary performance practice. Originally the company was focused on nurturing the development of writers and staging their works with passion and respect.

Over the years our creative direction has changed slightly, but, whatever way Little Ones has evolved, changed shape or style, its core mission to create theatre that is passionate, heightened, and transportive has never shifted. It has always been about alternative perspectives – about a queer voice.

Why Psycho Beach Party?

I had gotten to a point where I was tired of compromising myself artistically in fear of judgment; was tired of feeling as though I had to hide my love for high camp, glamour, and having a good time when making work.

So, I decided to take a risk (something I always push myself to do) and stage a play that meant something to me, wholeheartedly. All I have ever wanted is to create queer work that punctures and celebrates theatricality – something that is not of this world; something over the top, but weirdly, entirely human.

Psycho Beach Party and the iconic work of Charles Busch (the playwright), embodies all of this, so I knew it was something I needed to do. Busch said that he always found humour in the juxtaposition of elegance and vulgarity.

Ash Flanders and myself have embraced this conflict in our work both collectively and individually, so embarking on Psycho Beach Party together was a no-brainer. We worship the dirty, subversive, and erotic in theatre and hold nothing back when it comes to exploring sex in all its kinky and challenging forms. In Psycho Beach Party sexuality is explored through cross-gender casting and the titillation of exposed flesh, creating a rock and roll world of violence and uncontrolled libidos that encourages audiences to embrace their innermost desires, no matter how kinky or dark they may be. The show is a comic spectacle filled with references to old Hollywood cinema, the glamour of punk band The Cramps, and of course, the beach party films of the early 60s. The mash-up of genres, like our creative minds, is schizophrenic, which is why it was so tempting to put this project on.

What is the place of queer arts and cultural festivals, like Midsumma, in 2012?

Director of

Psycho Beach Party Little Ones Theatre

They allow for unique queer voices to come out of the woodwork on a grand scale, providing spaces for artists with a queer bent to experiment with form and be proud of the work they want to make. In a broader societal context they open up a conversation that is not relegated to the queer community – its not in-house, its inclusive. The events and dynamic experiences on offer during these festivals are open to everybody who wants to engage with something alternative and different. It’s about experiencing a world that is bounds away from ones usual form of entertainment or thinking. I think this is a positive and affirmative action that emphasises our need for diversity to have a public forum.

Last year you directed the hit show Negative Energy Inc. and this year Psycho Beach Party… What were the differences in both processes?

Things changed a lot for me between these two shows.

During my work on sex.violence.blood.gore for MKA (mid 2012) I met a group of artists who I felt a deep creative connection with, and that has affected the process of working on Psycho Beach Party. Negative Energy Inc. was more intimate: just Ash, myself, and the musical director creating a solo work that emanated from Miss Flanders’s heart. With Psycho Beach Party form and conception has been a longer process. We had an iconic play on our hands and so had to ask ourselves what would make our version of this show different, and why it was so important to put it on now. Eugyeene Teh (Costume), Tessa Pitt (Costume), Katie Sfetkidis (Lighting), and myself, spent a long time analysing the text and trying to find the best way to express the underlying queer dilemmas on a visual level. We set up the world and tried to understand its parameters so that the cast could step into it with a clear vision ahead. The world we created had to support the comedy of the show, its politics and historical context, in order to emphasise just how influential Charles Busch has been on queer performance practice. The similarity, however, between these two processes is the joy we have all had making the work and I think that is the most important thing.

Why did you decide to gender bend in this production?

For a couple of reasons: the simplest being that this is how Charles Busch originally conceived the work – with him playing the lead, Chicklet. Ash is also (in my opinion) Australia’s up and coming equivalent to

Charles Bush, a man who has made a beautiful career playing women that he loves. The other being that this is a piece concerned with an artificial world, one where each character is bound by a series of societal rules and obligations from the way that they must hold themselves physically to the way that they express their sexuality. If gender is performative and an action we can concisely create or construct, then it made sense for this show to be cross-gendered. I love the tension or confusion caused by this too, where an audience is never certain of the performer’s biological sex. It adds an exciting layer to the work.

What artists have inspired your life and why?

Madonna, Keith Haring, Charles Ludlum (the Ridiculous Theatre Manifesto), Jean Genet, Oscar Wilde, Morrissey and Winona Ryder. Why? Because in their practice and aesthetic they perform gender and transgression in extreme and iconic ways. They are all characters that appeal to the deviant and the outsider, and I suppose that is why I love and admire them so much. In every show I work on, traces and references to these amazing artists appear in various forms, whether it be in a design decision, a musical choice, or an actor’s characterisation.

There isn’t one rehearsal where I won’t reference Madonna, or call myself Madonna when trying to make a point. Her work from 1989-1993 has heavily influenced and shaped my perception of theatre-making as it sort of gave me permission to view a play and a story as a live, expressive and heightened event. The artists I have mentioned are all theatre-makers, it’s just that not all of them create their theatre in the usual or expected way.

What is Stephen Nicolazzo doing in 10 years time?!

I’ll probably be strapped up to an oxygen tank still smoking cigarettes with a lot of work done to my face! I don’t know. I hope I will be sharing the work I make with an international audience and contributing to the culture of gender politics on a larger scale. I would like to bring queer, in the purest sense of the word, back onto the main stages of Australia in a challenging, beautiful and entertaining fashion; one that opens up the conversation to broader audiences and inspires everybody to celebrate subversion. The thing I’d most like to be doing though is directing a Madonna concert with her bound to a wheelchair carrying a riding crop running over dancers to “Girl Gone Wild”. That’s the dream.