Seven years is a long time between shows.
Long enough to wonder, more than once, whether you’d ever do it again. Long enough to convince yourself the window had closed quietly while you weren’t looking… but it hadn’t.
Returning to the Adelaide Fringe stages with Joely Poley, Puddin’ & Pie was one of the better decisions I’ve made in a while. Not because everything went perfectly (it didn’t) but because the thing I’d been avoiding turned out to be exactly the thing I needed to do.
Over six performances across three venues and a range of audiences, the show took shape and I began to better understand what I was trying to say through it. That process of the show emerging in real time, is one of the most satisfying things I get to experience as a storyteller, and I really I love it.
I was lucky to have performer Laura Gundrill alongside me for the season. We both had our own shows on and were produced by Limelight Touring Company. Having someone else doing the stage thing as well was new for me, and I found it mattered a lot more than I expected. Thank you, Laura.
None of it would have happened without the superstar that is Brenda Spilva, Director at Limelight and my incredible partner. As my producer and director, Brenda first encouraged me to pull together the ‘third show idea’ that had been floating around inside my brain like a feather in the wind.
Once I had, her director’s eye and creative ideas shaped the show into something I couldn’t have found on my own, pushing it into places I wasn’t sure I was willing to go, and she was right every time.
Beyond the show itself, we got to share this experience as partners and companions, and that was so beautiful. Doing Adelaide Fringe with Brenda was a privilege, and I’m grateful for and to her for the love, care, creative guidance, and joy she brings and shared with me. Thank you x
We were both warmly taken in by my cousins Tors and Russ, who opened their home to us with a generosity that moves me. They made us feel like family and like friends at the same time, which is a particular kind of relationship that can’t be manufactured. A very special mention to Harry and George, their two beautiful dogs, who asked for nothing except pats and lots of playing fetch, and held me gently in some moments of deep reflection and pondering.
To the Limelighters: your support made this season possible in a real and practical sense. I don’t take that lightly and I am so very grateful. Thank you.
To our audiences: you chose to spend your evenings with us, and you showed up every night. The conversations after each show were some of the best parts of the whole experience. Thank you for being generous with your time and yourselves.
To 10 Gallon Hat Bar, Dom Polski Centre, and the Warehouse Theatre: thank you for having us. Each space brought something different and treading your stages was a real treat.
Adelaide theatre royalty Brian Godfrey is a wonderful man I met in 2018, and we’ve kept in touch over the years. Brian came to see both mine and Laura’s shows, shared his thoughts with others, and offered genuinely useful suggestions and information for future Adelaide seasons. That kind of generosity from someone who knows the Fringe well is very kind and immensely helpful. Thank you, Brian.
Another of Adelaide’s live production gems, and wonderful men, is Stephen Dean, who did the lighting and sound for my two previous shows, and who came on board again this time. Thank you Stephen for your expertise, humour, calm, and company.
Thank you also to the techs and front of house staff at every venue who do the work that makes the work possible.
The show is about identity. About the labels we collect along the way, the ones we chose and the ones that chose us, and the slow, sometimes funny work of figuring out which ones are actually worth keeping. What I’ve come to understand is that identity isn’t a problem you solve. There’s no point at which you arrive, dust yourself off, and declare the matter settled. It’s more like a conversation you keep having with yourself, sometimes out loud, sometimes on a stage in Adelaide in front of a small and generous room of strangers.
I’m comfortable with who I am right now. That’s not something I could have said without hesitation a few years ago, and it means something to be able to say it now. But comfortable doesn’t mean finished. The conversation continues. I suspect it always will, and I’ve made my peace with that.
Joely Poley isn’t done yet… Melbourne Fringe is next in September-October.
Photo by Stephen Dean Photography