“If I was going to entice you to see the show, I would say it is fun, frivolous, but also shows some of those darker shades of drinking… how alcohol can bring us together and tear us apart.”
Drinking in Australia. Let’s consider it for a moment.
We do a lot of it: It can be fun. It can be connective. And it can be destructive.
Aaaand it’s the subject of a new theatre show, MY SHOUT, from the brand spankin’ new Perth ensemble-based theatre company: UNDERCURRENT.
Sounds dramatic.
Well, they are! The good theatre kind. Brimming with movement, music and stories, the company are brewing something very special!
UNDERCURRENT core member Scarlet Davis. Photography Samuel Gordon Bruce
I talked to UNDERCURRENT performer and theatre-maker Scarlet Davis about the work which world premiered at Perth’s long-time local crucible for new theatre works: The Blue Room Theatre. It’s the company’s first work as a syndicate, and the furnace is firing up!
G: So, who are UNDERCURRENT and what do you do?
S: Undercurrent Theatre Company consists of four emerging theatre makers including myself, Sam Bruce, Claire Appleby and David Stewart. We were brought together during our Bachelor degree by a mutual passion for physical theatre, image based work and interdisciplinary collaboration that challenges the boundaries of conventional theatre practice. We believe in a rigorous process that trains the body and pushes us outside of our comfort zones. Basically, we tell stories with our body and our words in new and exciting ways! Also, collaboration is at the heart of our process, from training to making work to admin.
G: What an awesome team! That’s brilliant. Tell us a bit about My Shout, the show you’ve made?
S: My Shout is an exploration of connection, told through our own relationships with alcohol. As young Australians, particularly in the arts scene and even more so as recent university graduates we can honestly say there have been some great times and some… questionable ones… where alcohol is involved. At university it is particularly noticeable how alcohol is really a way we all try to connect with one another, whether that is romantically, platonically or fleetingly.
If I was going to entice you to see the show, I would say it is fun, frivolous, but also shows some of those darker shades of drinking, and it really highlights how alcohol can bring us together and tear us apart.
My Shout cast. Photography Kaifu Studios
G: That definitely does sound enticing. When you think about this fun, frivolous and dark show you’ve made, what excites or has excited you most?
S: To be honest, it’s the fact that we got to work with such incredible people to shape this work into something entirely new. The four Undercurrent members did the first development of My Shout at Johnny Ma Studios in April, and since then we have had the privilege of working with some of the Perth industries finest emerging and established artists totalling to a team of 15 creatives! It astounds me that we have been so lucky, but I also know that the work is a little bit of all of us.
G: Well congratulations on finally getting the work manifest to a season! It’s been really wonderful to see your team and the project grow from the periphery. I have one final question for you. How are you hoping audiences to feel after the show?
S: Like they just went on a 50-minute rollercoaster and couldn’t look away. We really want people to have fun, but also leave the theatre feeling contemplative as they buy another beer from the Blue Room bar and question the reason behind their next drink.
My Shout cast. Photography Kaifu Studios
G: You heard it folks! Thanks so much for chatting with me Scar. Chookas to you are your team on your run!
Which, by the way, is on now! Tickets to MY SHOUT by UNDERCURRENT at the Blue Room Theatre are available until Closing Night on the 18th of September. So salut, cheers and chin chin!
I’ll see you in the bar after.