James MacFarlane talks with Virginia Gay her about her show, Cyrano.
I think all bodies are deeply and inherently lovable, I just didn't grow up in a world that thought that
Virginia, what can you tell us about Cyrano.
It’s a gender-flipped take on the strange old plot of Cyrano De Bergerac, where a smart person who is/finds themselves ugly falls for a brilliant, beautiful woman, who in turn fancies a very handsome idiot, and - to get even a little scrap of their attention - the smart person starts writing perfect love scenes for the handsome boy to seduce her with. It's a classic love-triangle rom-com set up, with deeply problematic overtones, and we ain't shying away from any of them!
You premiered this show in 2022 in Australia. What is it about the story of Cyrano that interests you the most?
It's a story that I find deeply female and inherently queer: the idea that if, as a woman, you were just prettier and talked (and thought) a bit less, the world would be easier for you; and that as a queer human, there is something about this body that is inherently unlovable. To be clear, I think all bodies are deeply and inherently lovable, I just didn't grow up in a world that thought that.
It's also a story that is about the process of making theatre - it starts in a theatre, it's about the way you can write scripts for people more sparkly than yourself. You've got a lot of control over a scene that you've created, but it's not real intimacy, it's not actually being 'known'. It's also about the hold these old stories have over us. Why do we keep retelling the classics when the world has changed? What is useful about them and still relevant and fun and what needs to be left behind?
What was the initial response to the gender swapping?
Audiences loved it! I mean, people came to see it multiple times, so that's gotta mean something right? It found its audience with smart, often frustrated women. We're all so damned brilliant - every woman I know is so effervescently excellent - but we often have to put up with morsels of romance and disappointing intimacy. We have to spoon feed partners to let them know how to talk to us. I wanted to write something for all of us, and very patrician-ly for queer women. We have often had to survive on scraps as a queer female audience - here is a whole, hot, funny, delicious meal for us to gorge ourselves on!
The play is described as 'a love letter to hope and to the irrepressible magic of theatre'. I feel these qualities are even more needed in productions since the pandemic. Have you noticed a change in the way audiences respond to theatre since Covid?
Yeah. This show vibrates with the lo-fi magic of theatre, where you ask something of a collective imagination. "I know this is just a chair and a stick, but imagine with me, and we'll make it a whole battlefield."
I am grateful to Netflix for getting me through the pando, but sweet Jesus, I missed being in a ROOM with people, experiencing something transcendent, together.
Theatre is an act of community, and I'm thrilled to see and feel people coming back to the live space, the space where you all hold your breath together at a plot twist, and wriggle with desire at the same time, and you realise you're not alone. That's the thing that going to the theatre does that watching tv at home doesn't do: you realise you are not alone, in every experience you've ever had.
Do you have any shows you’re looking forward to seeing at the Fringe?
Stamptown, always Stamptown, dear god I love Stamptown- it's the most psychotic variety show I've ever experienced, hosted by Jack Tucker (Zach Zucker) who is a GODSEND of a clown. Michelle Brasier's excellent new show Legacy, Reuben Kaye's new show and his eternal glory, The Kaye Hole. Josh Glanc is a terrific clown whom I adore, and Mel & Sam are bringing their awesome High Pony to the Fringe for the first time. Hot Department are insane and terrific, and Flo and Joan's various new ventures (they have a one person musical as well as their excellent musical comedy) are all gonna be FAB. Elf Lyons is also always brilliant! Also, DM me on Insta and tell me if you see any terrific musical comedy/cabaret - I'm (also) on the hunt for acts for AdCabFest 2025!
