BACKSTAGE AT MIDSUMMA with Gary Helmore and Rachel Edmonds | He Partied Like It's 1999

In today's Backstage Blog, we spoke to Gary Helmore (writer) and Rachel Edmonds (cast) from He Partied Like It's 1999, which plays at Explosives Factory in week two of the Midsumma Festival.

He Partied Like It’s 1999 unfolds as a glitter-soaked time capsule of queer Melbourne at the edge of the millennium. Reg, a former Marxist now facing a midlife unraveling, finds unexpected passion with Hunter, a seductive, chaotic millennial masseur. Rose, his estranged wife, collides with Lucinda, a gender-bending archivist unearthing buried queer histories. Meanwhile, Angela—an outrageous drag psychic—glides through scenes, offering absurd wisdom, cheap wine, and devastatingly accurate predictions. 

Q: Take us back to the start. When did this show first drop into your head? How did it get to where it is now?

GARY: The spark for this play came from a moment I witnessed years ago: an older woman chatting with a ‘Goth’ girl outside an op shop in Yarraville. Two people who, on the surface, seemed to belong to completely different worlds, leaning in as if they’d known each other forever. That small, fleeting collision of lives stayed with me, and this play grew out of that curiosity, imagining the stories, connections, and unexpected kinship that might have been hidden inside that brief encounter.

That moment became the seed for this play. I first wrote it as a short two-hander, then, with the support of Melbourne Writers’ Theatre, expanded it into a full-length comedy that opens out into the wider world of the characters, their histories, and the tangled connections between them.

Q: What will people find in your show that they won't find anywhere else in Midsumma?

RACHEL: I think people will find a unique set of characters and relationships that they wouldn’t necessarily find elsewhere. The pairings in this piece stand out and the characters range in age significantly. There’s a beautiful, eclectic quality to this work, alongside a sense of hope and belonging.

Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?

RACHEL: This work has a complex simplicity to it. If you want to understand what I mean by that you’ll have to come and see it! It’s a beautiful character and relationship-driven piece of theatre that feels very reflective of life. I think audiences will be surprised by how much this work feels like home and a night out at the same time.

Q: What has been the most memorable moment in the process so far?

RACHEL: I’ve been performing professionally for around 10 years now and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to play a character whose gender expression aligns with my own. That is definitely something I will remember. I felt seen when Gary thought I’d be good for this role. There’s also been some very touching moments in rehearsals, watching the other actors rehearsing their scenes. The relationships that are building onstage can be intensely, heartfully real. It’s shaping up to be a really lovely piece of theatre.

Q: You're on a blind date. Nervously, you walk into the bar. Across the smoke and pool tables you see them - there they are. Your exact target audience member, personified. Can you describe them?

GARY: You push open the bar door and spot them straight away: Mark, 48, with a jacket that’s seen a few New Year’s Eves, Jules, 32, buzzing with queer curiosity and a life they never got to live, and Helen, 61, a St Kilda stalwart with the quiet confidence of someone who’s survived art, activism, and heartbreak. Together they’re laughing too loudly, crying quietly, and already pulling out their phones to text friends about the show, drawn to He Partied Like It’s 1999 because it treats queer history as something messy, funny, political and alive, a place where survival, chosen family, regret, and reinvention all collide on stage.

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He Partied Like It's 1999 plays at Explosives Factory 27-31 January.

Click here to get your tickets!