Screws, Nuts & Blokes
Stress. Difficult to define yet it affects us all. Equally. Without question. An inevitable reality. So how do we cope?
Screws, Nuts & Blokes, which premieres at Revolt Artspace, Kensington, 23rd-28th September as apart of the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2014,delves into the innate yet absurd coping mechanisms we clutch to when stress consumes our lives. Using the framework of a break up, this show breaks down the fundamentals of how we bounce back and track our disarranged journey of happiness, self-love and discovery, told through Vaudeville, Physical Theatre, Circus and Burlesque.
The Creative Directors of Screws, Nuts & Blokes, Marjorie May Fair and Sarah Spaven, spoke to Stage Whispers.
Stage Whispers: This is your first collaboration, tell us how this came about.
Sarah:Sam and I actually studied together at the University of Ballarat. Sam graduated from the acting degree and I graduated musical theatre. We then went on to work together in Squid Stamp’s award winning production of ‘The Technology Show’. When the season ended Sam approached me and asked if I wanted to have a crack at co writing a physical theatre piece for the next Melbourne Fringe season and I thought, yeah lets do it!
Stage Whispers: What inspired you to write Screws, Nuts & Blokes?
Sam: Sarah and I are fascinated by stress, what causes stress and the funny things people do when they’re stressed. How often do you ask someone how they are and hear the reply “I’m good, just super stressed with work, school, Uni, family stuff… the list goes on. Well our show explores what that looks likes, the private and often funny moments we experience when we are at our most stressed.
Stage Whispers: What is your creative process?
Sarah:Inspired also by the vaudeville era, the show is a variety piece and the cool part about variety is the script is based around the skills and talents of our cast, this made for a very interactive rehearsal and writing process. Sam and I came off the first day of rehearsals with about 30 different acts, and we’ve now narrowed it down to just under 60minutes of material.
Sam:It’s been a lot of trial and error, our cast has also been extremely involved and often offers fresh eyes if an act just isn’t reading clearly.
Stage Whispers: What is Screws, Nuts & Blokes about?
Sam:Sarah and I wanted to explore the topic of stress which on it’s own is so personal and unique, no two people experience it quite the same. So, to make our show accessible to a large audience, we centered our story around a break up - something most of us will have experience in.
Sarah: Through various mediums such as song, dance, burlesque, circus, physical theatre and vabadium monologues, we follow our ‘main girl’ - played by each member of the cast - as she experiences the different stages we’ve all found ourselves when recovering from a break up.
Stage Whispers: Why is your show important?
Sarah: I think it’s important to laugh about stress because we all experience it from time to time, I know I do. Yet it’s something we often feel we need to go through by ourselves.
Sam: Theatre is such a great medium to tackle some of these greater issues and our show doesn’t place any judgment on the hoarders, chocoholics, workaholics, clean freaks and denial cases we know are out there. We just want to acknowledge that you exist and you’re not as odd as you think you were.
Stage Whispers: Have there been moments with the actors that inspired you to make rewrites?
Sarah: All the time! Without our wonderful cast, our show would be completely different. I actually hope that the show continues to grow and change even on closing night. As much as the cast has influenced the script, the audience will influence our cast and we constantly welcome changes and new ideas. That’s the fun when performing variety theatre.
Tickets: www.melbournefringe.com.au or by phoning 03 9660 9666.
Full price tickets: $26
Concession $21
Groups of 4+ are $19
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Screws-Nuts-Blokes/1472309523011273?ref=bookmarks
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