Then There Were 3

Husband and wife team Craig Alexander and Shelley Higgs had collaborated together on sketch comedy such as The Reindeer Monologues and The Toilet Monologues. They initially intended their current show at The Street Theatre in Canberra to be called The Parenting Monologues, when they realised they had a personal, potentially more meaningful, story to tell from their own experience of post-natal depression. Author Craig Alexander spoke with Cathy Bannister.

Cathy Bannister: Tell me a bit about the show? What can people expect?

Craig Alexander: Well it’s a crazy, romantic comedy about a couple that gets thrust together and has a surprise child, and how they cope with defining who they are after they become three. It’s a very hectic paced comedy where the Universe, played by Raoul Craemer (Destination Home, Widowbird) orchestrates for them to go through their romantic journey quite quickly, and so there’s a whole bunch of hilarity and there’s a giant baby puppet, and lots of nice songs from the musician Father who struggles with post natal depression, and has to work out who he is through becoming a father. And the mother goes through a similar journey as well.

Cathy: So it sounds like it has an almost surreal feel?

Craig: There’s quite a lot of breakout moments which go into what the parents are thinking and experiencing. Much of the sense of society’s pressure on parents to be perfect is shown through surreal moments of movement and shenanigans.

Cathy: You’ve chosen a serious subject, but you’ve made it a crazy comedy. Tell me how you manage to make such a sombre subject funny.

Craig: I think that’s what good comedy does. Comedians often say that they’re making jokes about their pain. The show is semi-autobiographical. I went through post natal depression with our first child, so it’s actually about my wife and I, and our journey, with a little bit of dramatic licence. I think you can say a lot more when you can make light of a subject. I mean, there are moments of, oh God, that poor guy is going through some struggles here, but presenting it with the comedy, so the audience laughs along with us, makes it hit home better. That’s when good comedy and good writing works well, when you can say these things without getting bogged down in the overly dramatic moments.

Cathy: Was writing this play a way of helping you work through or post-processing your own post natal depression experience?

Craig: We’re about to have number four, and the depression for me was with number one, so I think we’ve dealt with it and moved on quite successfully. One of the things that Michelle and I wanted to do with this piece is to have parents, and even people who one day may have children, come away feeling that they’re not alone. I mean, you don’t have to be perfect, everyone goes through very similar journeys themselves with children. So I guess it’s more about sharing that story with others, so that they know they’re not alone with it.

Cathy: Why did you decide to use puppetry?

Craig: The story is essentially the Mum and Dad’s journey, and the baby is the stimulus for that. We wanted the baby to be an active part of the story and a little bit larger than life, and a bit more of a stronger influence, but also cute and adorable. It came out of that idea that it needed to be larger than life, but also be active and able to be central to the experience. So the puppet was the only way we could see that working. The baby has a few musical numbers and it gets a bit picky with the parents and teases them as well. It kind of just came out of that idea and it just works perfectly.

Image: Pictured L-R: Craig Alexander and Raoul Craemer. Credit: Chuckle Photography.

The Street Theatre, Acton, Canberra

December 4 - 8

Written by Craig Alexander and Shelly Higgs. Directed by Shelley Higgs. Stars Caroline Simone O'Brien and Craig Alexander.

www.thestreet.org.au