Two-hander 'This Is Where We Live' by Vivienne Walshe is an award-winning story of disconnection and love.
The work is being taken on as part of Melbourne Fringe by producing house Feet First Collective – a company known for its larger scale, immersive works focusing on stories and themes with a sense of urgency and relevance.
'This Is Where We Live', which played Perth's Fringe World earlier this year, is set in a dusty town in regional Australia and follows two outsiders drawn together in the vein of 'Orpheus And Eurydice'. Thus, like their counterparts, this love comes with its share of devastation. It starts Lauren Beeton and Sam Addison.
It's a show exploiting Australian speech and poetry, and those who love new writing, physical theatre and young adulthood will be drawn to it.
Here, Producer/Director Teresa Izzard, Producer/Actor Lauren Beeton and Designer/Actor Sam Addison answer some questions about 'This Is Where We Live' before it hits Melbourne.
Teresa, tell us a bit about 'This Is Where We Live'.
‘This Is Where We Live’ is a challenging two-hander that won the prestigious Griffin Award in 2012. It is a story of disconnection and love. Chloe the ‘bombshell’ comes from a background of domestic violence and suffers from dyslexia. Chris is the son of the English teacher and despite being an ‘odd boy’ with a love of poetry and jazz, is destined to leave the gravel and the heat for a life beyond Chloe’s destiny. They are drawn together but their powerful first love, like in the myth, is laced with tragedy. It was developed in association with the Australian National Playwrights’ Conference and premiered in 2013 in Sydney at the Griffin Theatre to excellent reviews. The original director Francesca Smith states: “The play is like a giant theatrical poem. The speech has the rhyme and rhythm of pop music – it’s unlike anything else I’ve seen before”.
What are you looking forward to about bringing the show to Melbourne Fringe?
Lauren: I am excited for Feet First to debut a work in Melbourne and to be a part of the Melbourne theatre scene and get to see other shows in the festival. I'm also very excited to chase down what is apparently one of the best croissants in the world!
Sam: I love the idea of bringing the show to new audiences and expanding my artistic horizons by presenting work in a new city. I'm also keen to explore the cultural scene in Melbourne.
Teresa: I am excited to take this show to a new level – to see the two actors dig deeper and to share the story with a new audience.
Image © John Congear
Sam, why do you think ’This Is Where We Live’ is a perfect fit for Melbourne Fringe?
It is a deep exploration of humanity, our response to trauma and the way we cling to other people for survival.
Lauren, what are you hoping to communicate to audiences with your performance?
Above all, this story is about facing reality! It’s a beautiful contrast between the non-naturalistic style of the play and the very blunt version of reality that it reveals. It’s a break away from the ‘love conquers all’ narrative that we are often fed, and a look at what’s underneath the simplistic love story. It’s not a story that is told enough, which is heartbreaking because it is reality for an unfortunately large number of people. As a company we have always been about answering tough questions and facing hard truths, and I believe that’s what the audience will come away from this play with.
What’s something you learned/have taken with you from the Fringe World season that you want to apply at the Melbourne run?
Lauren: Due to COVID we spent a long time in the rehearsal room before performing at Fringe World and discovering the role of the audience which really elevated the work. I'm looking forward to developing this further in Melbourne.
Sam: I loved the audience response to the lighter moments in the piece at Fringe World, so focusing more on moments of lightness and comedy to contrast the darkness is something I want to focus on for the Melbourne run.
Teresa: Integrating lighting and sound into the show and seeing the full vision come together was amazing - now we have the opportunity to recreate this in the Theatre Works space!
What was the best part about Fringe World?
Lauren: Spending time with the company and after show drinks. . .! Honouring our core value of celebration!
Sam: Getting to see a range of work I wouldn't normally be exposed to.
Teresa: Sharing this work with people who were moved by it and that it resonated with.
Image © John Congear
Teresa, what appealed to you most about this show?
When I’m searching for a play, I read a lot of scripts. . . And often I don’t get all the way through them! Not so with this one. It confounded me, intrigued me and enticed me. I was instantly excited to analyse all the clues and work towards solving the challenges it presented in the rehearsal room! It's inherent theatricality; the poetic language, the piercing ideas and the vibrant imagery have driven the way we’ve staged it. It’s the kind of text you need to engage with rigorously, as it is so open to interpretation, so we’ve had a lot of fun discovering our version of it!
Sam, what do you love most about your character?
Chris is a very vulnerable young man whose struggles I could relate to as a 17-year-old. I love sharing his story with an audience.
Describe this show in three words.
Lauren: Punchy, beautiful, fast-paced.
Teresa: Real, illuminating, gritty.
'This Is Where We Live' plays Theatre Works (Melbourne Fringe) from 11-14 October.
