What does your show say about society today? The show challenges the way we think about life, happiness and success. I think people lose their belief in fairies and ogres, but never quite let go of that childish comfort that ‘happy’ is somewhere out there waiting. Society drills into us that we have to be perfect, and I hope Mother Bear challenges that.
Is your show based on your true-life experiences? Mother Bear is Barren is based on my lived experience of mental illness. It might seem odd, but I think there is ripe material for comedy burrowed within mental illness. Using an unabashedly fantastical lens, it’s based on my own, very real-world struggle to be happy in this imperfect world.
What do you want the audience to take away from your show? I hope that the audience leaves the show having laughed. But I also hope they take away a gentle reminder that the world impresses a whole lot of narratives against us. It’s important to recall that at a moment’s notice you can choose to reject everything you ‘should’ do.
What was the creative process like putting the show together? The creative process of putting the show together has been challenging and rewarding in equal measure. I’d never tackled anything like this before, and I’ve learned a lot.
How does your show play with convention? Mother Bear is Barren plays with the convention of stories in general. The show takes the tropes of the fairytales we all heard as children and shines a light on the ridiculous inconsistencies keep rife throughout them.
