Burgeoning actress, writer and producer Candy Bowers does not exactly fit the conventional theatre blueprint, but that hasn't stopped her from scoring one of the most exclusive and exciting roles in Queensland Theatre Company's 2014 season.
She's been in the theatre business for ten years, a colourful decade of burlesque, hip hop, comedy and the occasional straight play, but it wasn't until recent years that Candy managed to combine all of her diverse talents into a single project — 'Twelve'.
“It's on commission from Queensland Theatre Company,” Candy says, with a production date looming in the near-future. It's a milestone in her vibrant career that comes after working hard to get any attention for her project, which has no doubt been made more difficult by Candy's unconventional theatre pedigree.
Unfortunately, Candy emphasises that there is still a fair degree of discrimination against women of colour in the Australian theatre industry, which has largely remained in the dark as other artistic industries, such as music and film, have long adapted to modern society.
Candy's dream was to create a piece that did not conform to industry standards and would hopefully reach out to many different audiences; the music crowds that followed Candy's work when she performed as Sister She (a hip hop comedy act), and the more traditional theatre crowds who might be open to something a little out of the ordinary. Thus 'Twelve' was born — a modern day soul and hip hop musical revamp of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'.
But it's Candy's current project with QTC that will be making the first steps of bridging the gap between old theatre and new theatre. Queensland Theatre Company's latest mainstage production, 'The Mountaintop', is a dramedy set on the eve of Martin Luther King's death, imagining his last night in a hotel room as he interacts with Camae, a feisty hotel maid many years his junior.
“There was a different side to him,” says Candy. “He had a lot of women. If you read some of his biographies you'll see that he had a bit of a sexual problem.”
Now, let's not be too hard on him — after all, King was under a lot of stress, with not only the demands of his political campaign, but also the looming threat of assassination, as well as recurrent depressive episodes that had already led to one suicide attempt at the tender age of 12.
In spite of his personal maladies, King maintained a pacifist outlook, a political approach that was more aligned with John Lennon's 'Give Peace a Chance' ethos, which is why Candy believes the power of his speeches and the story of 'The Mountaintop' will continue to resonate with a modern day audience. She sees King as being a likely ancestor to the wordy hip hop acts topping the music charts right now and modern day slam poetry.
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“I guess that's why he was assassinated,” Candy says. “That was radical. Saying you loved queers was radical. It was a crazy time.”
Ironically, it was King's assassination that would ultimately be the keystone to the success of his campaign for civil rights and peace — forever changing Western society with his controversial death. Although it was a tragedy, without the eye-opening assassination of King, the Civil Rights movement may not have gained as much momentum and plays like 'The Mountaintop' would have never been written. And it is a play that reinforces King's vision, but also shows us that he was human.
Candy can't give many details of 'The Mountaintop' away, but she promises it will not be a standard QTC production, crossing many different mediums to deliver a powerful message (such as transforming the stage into a film screen as key moments of King's political career are replayed).
Although most people attending 'The Mountaintop' will probably be regular theatre-goers or interested in King as a historical figure, Candy emphasises that they will leave the play with a completely different mindset.
Indeed, 'The Mountaintop' does not traverse King's full political history, but instead seeks to remind audiences that he was just as human as us and that we are all capable of as many great things as King.
