What are you working on currently?
I’ve just handed in the locked down script
for my play Crushed, which starts
rehearsal on Monday. I had the luxury of a month of staggered script workshops
with the cast, director and dramatrug. We workshopped each scene on the floor,
questioned relationship and action lines, rewrote chewy dialogue and sharpened
the turning points. The actors start rehearsal knowing that any further changes
are going to be super slight. How awesome is that for an independent
production?
Who, or what, inspires you to create?
Well, I love my country.
Call me unfashionable or just plain downright weird, but I really love this
country! I don’t have a Southern Cross tatt, I hate sport, and I’ve never
gambled, but there’s an essential part of me that feels such a strong
connection to this place, to our stories. I started writing for theatre because
I felt a strong pull to tell the many stories of this beautiful, fraught and
complex country that I am so proud to call my home.
What was the most interesting thing you saw recently?
I’m a bit obsessed with Brene Brown at the
moment. I recently caught her TED talk and it still hasn’t left me. Brene’s a research
professor who studies vulnerability and shame. ‘Only when we are brave enough
to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.’ I’m
writing a new play called Goodnight Moon
and in that context, her work reaffirms much about the human condition. It’s charged
me to want to write flawed, vulnerable and very confused characters!
Passing the TED love on:
What is the best piece of advice that you've been given?
Margot Nash, my screenwriting mentor at UTS,
said to me, ‘Don’t listen too much.’ She was talking about listening to
feedback. Feedback can get in the way. I’ve learnt this the hard way! Ultimately,
I’ve learnt to trust my own impulses and tell the story my heart wants to tell.
I think of what Margot said every time I go into a script workshop.
Who, past or present, would you like to share a meal with and why?
Berthe Morisot. She was a French Impressionist
painter. I saw quite a few of her paintings when I was living in Paris. Berthe
was good friends with Manet and also sat for him. In those paintings, there’s a
delicious unspoken relationship that plays out between Berthe, the sitter, and
Manet, the artist. (I might be writing about this)… They were both married, but
I totally reckon they did it. I’d ask her if they did it. And if she has a good
recipe for homemade pate.
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