Brunette Brunette opens Monday 24th August at The Libra Theatre Cafe, a joyful musical satire that will make you laugh and cry. Learn more about what you can expect:
1: What inspired you to create this show?
It started out as a bit. A skit. A one minute long tik-tok made in 2023 of our newly established alter egos- Olive and Monday. Then came the 10 minute short film, focusing on their lives in 2004 Boston. Soon after, we were embodying our American double act everywhere we went: to drama school, to bars, the tube, and even performing at open mic nights. It became an obsession. The world of Olive and Monday grew and grew until we were left with two incredibly detailed characters with incredibly strange lives. It was inevitable it would turn into a show (A cringe-comedy mini-musical to be precise). You may watch it and think ‘there’s no way this could happen in real life’. But, because of the amount of times we’ve got ourselves into weird situations as these characters, our show might as well be classed as Verbatim theatre.
2: The show is a musical satire. What is your favourite number to perform?
‘Best Friends for Funking Life’ encompasses everything we wanted our show to be. A song filled with y2k humour that somehow still manages to tug on your heartstrings. During the big emotional climax of the show, the girls break out into a ballad. With Olive on guitar and Monday on piano, you can really see the struggle of two girls just tryna make it in the big city! Think ‘Camp Rock’ or ‘Freaky Friday’.
3: Which character, Monday or Olive, do you relate most to?
In many ways, Monday and Olive have always been us but with cooler outfits and co-dependency issues. Beneath the cringe humour and musical numbers, is a show about two girls who are trying to feel a little less alone in a world that constantly throws them into the deep end of life. Priya shares Monday’s ambition about winning the song contest. And like Olive, Jane is always prepared for a rap battle. The show is painfully relatable. Not just for those who grew up in the glossy, chaotic age of low-rise jeans, flip phones and pop-punk in the early 2000s, but for anyone who has ever felt like an outcast growing up.
4: What has been the biggest challenge in producing Brunette Brunette?
We wrote and performed the first 15 minutes for a scratch night and after receiving rave reviews, decided to turn it into an hour and take it to the fringe. It’s been challenging trying to coordinate rehearsals whilst dealing with the joys that come with graduating drama school (i.e having to find a new place to live and emotionally accept the amount of council tax we will now have to pay).
5: Where do you see the show going from here?
Brunette Brunette World Domination!!!
Okay, in actuality, we hope to continue to grow the show. Edinburgh Fringe is our next goal and then hopefully other London theatres. We’re working towards securing more funding to help us with these aspirations. Currently we post skits on our Instagram (@allofmonday) and would love to, one day, create our own sketch show.
6: What is the most enjoyable part about creating Brunette Brunette?
Last March, we went on an extremely fun and completely necessary ‘research’ trip to Boston! Whilst there, we took a tour of Northeastern University, where the play is set. Getting to speak to locals helped us turn our show into a little tribute to the big city. Many thanks to Lenny who helped us find our way whilst navigating the metro station and to ‘Squirrel’ Dave (clue is in the name but he is Boston’s very own squirrel whisperer). We took as much as we possibly could from our trip and wove it into our script.
Brunette Brunette opens Monday 24th August at The Libra Theatre Cafe. Many thanks to Priya Chapman for answering our questions. Book your tickets here!
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