Gothic horror. Home video. Absurdist clown. Sociopolitical commentary.
'Again You Have Trusted Me' by performance art powerhouse Sarah Stafford is peppered with all of the above; it's a theatre-documentary blurring the lines between reality TV and reality, presented as part of Backbone Festival in Brisbane.
Sarah tells us more about the show – a portrait of her working-class family.
Tell us a little bit about 'Again You Have Trusted Me'.
'Again You Have Trusted Me' is a show about the women in my family on my mother’s side. It began as a series of interviews I recorded when I went to visit them in Rockhampton. The show itself is a kind of negotiation between the stories they told me and the stories I want to tell about our family. It’s an investigation into truth-telling and trust. I’m attempting to blur the lines a bit with what is real and what is heightened.
It's a 'theatre-documentary'. What classifies it as this?
I rely heavily on the documented material I have of the women the show is about to move the story forward and a lot of what I do on stage is in reaction to what footage the audience has seen or is about to see.
You created it and you perform in it. What are some of the challenges of being on both sides of a show?
I often create and perform in my own work but this is the first time that I am the soul creator. It’s really difficult. I think I work very well collaboratively (with the right people) so to tackle this by myself wasn’t easy. . . I get very distracted. I am really lucky to have had an outside eye from my friend Jeremy Neideck and some special green screen video help from Joe Agius. As well as Izzy Mellor and Samuel Boyd steering me in the right direction musically. It’s been great to bounce ideas off other people, obviously. For this show the hardest part has been how close I am to the content and making sure it will make sense to an audience who doesn’t know me and doesn’t know my family. I need to make my audience care about these women and I already do so it’s hard to think objectively.
What messages are you hoping to communicate throughout this show?
That people and families are complex. Also that we should talk more to each other. But mostly I want to create a feeling of connectedness and excitement with my audience.
And what inspired you to create it?
My mother and her incredible way of telling stories and making people laugh. Also I have been all talk about a one-woman show for years so figured I better put my money where my god forsaken mouth is.
Why do you think theatre is such a good medium for communicating contemporary issues and ideas?
I think it can be a good medium. When it is good it really moves you in a way other art forms can’t because of the immediacy and ‘liveness’ of it. But I also think theatre can sometimes struggle to connect with a wider demographic outside of its own middle class echo chamber, so how do we change that?
Why do you think 'Again You Have Trusted Me' is a fit for Backbone Festival in 2019?
I think my show is a perfect fit. It is a snapshot into the lives and untold stories of generations of Australian women in one family and ultimately this year's festival is about understanding and empathising towards the lived experiences of people different to us. It’s about finding deeper levels of connection in the golden age of algorithms.
What are your thoughts on the festival as a whole?
I think it is extremely special to be a part of a free festival that is made for and by the community. There are so many great shows and events on like 'Skin Deep', 'Be Our Witness', 'Candy Social Club', 'Fast And Loose', 'The Departure Project' and honestly so many more.
