Women In Theatre And Screen's (WITS) critically-acclaimed Festival Fatale will return to Sydney, following a hugely successful inaugural festival in 2016.
It's a mass celebration of women and a range of performances aiming to boldly express talent and diversity of women in Sydney.
Here, Festival Fatale General Manager and Producer Tara Clark answers questions about the event.
How does this year's Festival Fatale compare to any previous?
The inaugural Festival Fatale two years ago in 2016 was spawned as a direct response to a distinct absence of women writers and directors being programmed in our theatres. In fact, when the Darlinghurst Theatre Company announced their 2016 season it included only two female playwrights and one female director. A second female director was later appointed, but the season as a whole was dominated by male writers and directors. In response to this, Women In Theatre And Screen spawned Festival Fatale, an initiative that Darlinghurst Theatre Company actually partnered with us on and remain proud supporters of. Designed to put women artists and women’s stories in the spotlight, the festival was mammoth; taking place over multiple days at the Eternity Playhouse and including fully-realised productions and moved readings of new plays in theatre, as well as cabaret performances in the foyer throughout. This year’s festival maintains the same celebratory nature of the 2016 festival, but in a more refined manner. We’ve removed the cabaret element of the festival (to improve crowd control!) and focused on staging fully-realised productions of new works and moved readings of brand new and unheard plays.
Tara Clark - Image © Roman Wolczak
What do you find most intriguing about Festival Fatale?
Festival Fatale is by women, but it’s for everyone. We’re still fighting the misconception that women can only write stories that interest other women, but nothing could be further from the truth. Lana Schwarcz, bringing her internationally award-winning comedy show 'Lovely Lady Lump' to Festival Fatale, has noticed on the comedy circuit that shows by men often pull larger audiences than those by women. She says, “Us wily females began to notice a trend of the solo male shows getting more than twice the audience numbers as the female solo shows, especially the comedies, so we formed a group to raise awareness of women’s shows. Now, I am over the moon to see our little group has morphed into an inclusive hashtag: #fringefemmes. So although I am proud that it is continuing, I find it interesting that we still need to actively remind people that women’s shows are just as interesting, funny and entertaining as men’s shows.” In 2014 Lana was diagnosed with breast cancer. So, she did what any great comedian would do… She went and wrote some jokes. As Lana herself says, "Let me start by telling you I’m ok. I’m just in a small situation involving a pesky cancer tumour in my left nork, but I’m not dying and I’m the luckiest person in the entire world. Cos f... cancer, man. F... cancer." 'Lovely Lady Lump' has been described by the New Zealand Journal as “a tour de force that absolutely everyone not afraid of boobs needs to go see.” It has been given four and a half to five stars in every city it has toured, and has been named winner at four festivals and a nominee at a further two. It’s a fantastic show and yes, it happens to be written and performed by a woman.
What do you feel are some of the festival's highlights?
We’re thrilled to be bringing two productions from interstate; 'Lovely Lady Lump' (VIC) and 'Sparrow' (WA). The line-up this year, although refined, is incredibly diverse and includes emerging artists as well as those already well established, artists from Western Sydney, Indigenous artists, artists of colour and artists with diverse migrant backgrounds. No two productions are alike, nor are any two artists.
How would you describe the 'planning phase' of this year’s event?
Hectic! But I’ve loved every second. WITS is a not-for-profit organisation run entirely by volunteers, so the festival is being planned around full-time jobs, family obligations… Babies! Our Artistic Director Lizzie had a bub only ten weeks ago so we’ve got a very bright-eyed intern working on the festival now!
What are you most looking forward to regarding the festival?
For me, I really can’t wait to just be in the foyer among the patrons. The fulfillment they get from the event is really why we do it. As an organisation, WITS is really working to respond to a desperate need within the community. Patrons, especially women, really do want to see more women on our stages and screens. The feedback we get from audiences around events like Festival Fatale, but also the other events we host such as Forums and Think Tanks, makes it clear to us that Festival Fatale is absolutely necessary.
In what way does the festival aim to focus on women in theatre?
All productions involved in the festival must be made up of creative teams that achieve gender parity, meaning there must be as many women involved in the project as men for it to be considered. We received submissions from all over Australia this year, and we’re very excited that the final projects curated are so female-focused.
What do you hope people take away from the festival?
Primarily, we just want everyone to have a great time and enjoy a day of fantastic theatre! Regardless of the fact that it has been made by women, because that really shouldn’t matter, and that’s what we’re working toward.
What can people attending Festival Fatale expect?
The unexpected! The programme is so diverse and no two projects are alike, so I strongly recommend that people get tickets to a couple of performances. I can’t detail them all here but I encourage you to check out the website and read up on all the productions.
Why do you feel people should come along to Festival Fatale?
Sure, we’re trying to manoeuvre a massive cultural shift in the representation of women on our stages and screens and to do that we the support of the community for events like Festival Fatale. But it’s also just a fantastic way to spend the day. It’s a great day to get a group together and digest a veritable feast of theatre. There will be time between productions to grab a coffee or a bite on Oxford St and talk (or argue!) about each production. The Eternity Theatre is absolutely exquisite. I can’t think of a better way to spend the day.
