Beloved Be The Ones Who Sit Down opens Friday 21st August at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, exploring how we are remembered as humans. Learn more about what you can expect:
1: What inspired the initial idea of creating Beloved Be The Ones Who Sit Down?
Honestly, I wish I could take credit but it was the characters themselves who just decided to crash into my consciousness at their own will. My only job was to open my notes app before they ran away. I did lose a few.
Only after getting it all on paper and performing an extract to an audience have I been able to interpret where the hell it all came from.
I think for me it has been my way of processing the absurd contradiction of being alive right now. The horror and hilarity of the mundane day-to-day. The dissonance of feeling a primal rage that the unfathomable greed of a small group of people is causing unimaginable suffering for millions of people and decimation of the earth and all its beautiful, precious life, all while I brush my teeth and get ready for work so I can pay my taxes.
2: How did you approach representing 30 different women without turning them into stereotypes?
The characters and scenes are deliberately archetypal – this allows people to project their own stories and logic onto them. This show is more like a tarot reading for the audience than a traditional play. The meaning of the scenes and characters will entirely depend on the specific context and question each audience member enters with. Everyone will leave with a completely different experience.
As a performer, I feel like every single one of the characters came from a part of me. The circumstances and their behaviour may seem completely absurd and illogical, but the core of each character is innately human.
3: How do you explore personal identity in the show?
I think a common theme about identity that recurs in this show is the struggle of being a wild beast pretending to be a machine. Pretending so good they forget they are not a machine. It’s about the identity crisis of humanity. That’s why I think death has become such a core theme of the show. Death reminds us that we do not just exist within nature, we are it. Death is the most natural and human thing, and it fucking terrifies us. It disgusts us. It’s awkward. It’s ugly. It’s messy. We ignore it like if we don’t think about it, it might just skip over us. We think that if we make enough money, gain enough fame, moisturise enough, buy enough clothes, diet enough, see enough monuments, we might somehow surpass it.
4: One actor playing 30 characters sounds challenging. What has been the most challenging part?
Well there are 30 quick changes (set and costume!). That’s definitely been challenging. But through thorough rehearsals and some bloody fantastic Invisible Women, we have made it work.
5: The show describes hope as something underneath darkness. Can you discuss this idea further?
Making theatre at a time that feels to me like the death rattle of humanity has made the undertones of the play naturally a little morbid. But it is also very much a comedy. For me, the hope is the wild beasts within us all who sometimes poke their little heads out of our conformity jackets to say hi or encourage a breakdown. It’s anchored in the moments where I catch someone just being human. It can be that simple. I find that quite profound.
I’m big on Tarot, and to me this play is the tower card (the scary one) when everything we have built comes crashing down in a fiery mess. BUT the next card in the journey is the star – when everything is burned to the ground nothing is left – there is a star, a flicker of hope that there is something better out there. You will find the star in this play. Whether it’s simply laughing your arse off at silly women, or a profound moving revelation about what’s really important to you, you will see it.
6: What has been the most enjoyable part about creating Beloved Be The Ones Who Sit Down?
Women Trying (and Sam). This is our debut show as a company and as the writer/performer I feel immensely lucky to be supported by this group of insanely multitalented and dedicated humans who have somehow made this wack idea into an actual real show. It has been an absolute hoot to brew this show with them. Love em.
Beloved Be The Ones Who Sit Down opens Friday 21st August at Upstairs at the Gatehouse. Many thanks to Mimi Dobson for answering our questions. Book your tickets here!
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