From Perth playwright and performer Chris Isaacs (along with co-star and co-writer Jeffrey Jay Fowler) comes 'Fag/Stag' – a refreshing, timely look at friendship and sexuality.
Set in Perth, 'Fag/Stag' centres on two friends – Corgan (Chris) and his gay best friend Jimmy (Jeffrey). The show looks at how they relate to each other as friends, the similarities in how they deal with their relationships, trials with modern dating apps like Tinder and Grindr, attending a former girlfriend's wedding, and the pressure to be a very specific sort of 'masculine' when you're a guy in Australia.
With 'Fag/Stag', Chris says he realised there was a “beautiful story to be told about the relationship between a straight man and a gay man”. A story that is, at its core, about friendship. A story a variety of Aussie audiences should be able to relate to – not just straight men with gay friends. It's an entirely fictional story, but as Chris admits, there are always going to be elements of the playwrights in their characters. “Corgan isn't just me, he also has parts of Jeffrey. And Jeffrey's character Jimmy isn't just him, there are elements of myself there – in a way we sort of comment on each other's lives.”
There's a very specifically Australian story in 'Fag/Stag' – there's no denying while we've come far as a country in terms of acceptance of LGBTI+ people, there are still homophobes out there in drones. “I think it's becoming less and less as time goes on, but yeah there are still pockets and groups where saying to someone, 'you're a faggot' is considered a joke or jest.” Chris says making anything gay derogatory and telling those kinds of jokes is still a real problem with Australian men – all wrapped up in how they see masculinity, and their association of gay with feminine, feminine with bad. “We talk about Corgan's friends in 'Fag/Stag' having that kind of thing as well – he keeps his gay friend separate from his straight friends.” Chris says it's all to do with how men address homosexuality – too often you'll hear people refer to something negative as being 'gay' or saying someone is 'acting like a poof' (to use an especially Australian phrase). That isn't to say those attitudes only come from men, but they're certainly rooted in conflicts about masculinity. Lucky to be in a theatre circle where people are generally very accepting, Chris says he doesn't see that kind of behaviour too often, but it still happens.
The format of the show sees each character telling the story from their own perspective, and as time goes on the differences between the two versions (and the characters) become clearer. It's something that probably wouldn't work as well on film, but Chris is open to the idea anyway. “Stylistically, it would have to change – but Jeffrey and I are talking about the possibility of this show as a film.”
For now though, Chris is more than happy in the theatre world. “Theatre is my passion, personally, because theatre is present.” He talks fondly about how a theatre performance only exists while the audience is watching it, and then it's over – it disappears. A unique experience every time for those who happen to be there watching it. “And that audience, they all experience their own versions of it.”A seasoned playwright and performer, Chris says he's always loved telling stories, that stories are at the heart of everything. “I like lying,” he laughs. “Because being human is telling stories. It's one of the central points to our existence, I think.” He says that people are always asking each other how their day was because they're searching for those stories. According to Chris we try to ingest as much information about other people as we can, so that we can try to understand ourselves.
When discussing what he hopes audiences might take from the show at the end of the day, Isaacs is quick to use the word friendship again, the major theme of 'Fag/Stag'. “It's about the importance of friendship. It's entertaining, true, honest. I hope it can reveal to people something about their relationships too.”
'Fag/Stag' performs the Royal Croquet Club 14-28 February as part of Adelaide Fringe Festival which runs 12 February – 14 March.
