In Conversation with Adam Browne | Bladderwrack

In today's backstage blog, we sat down with Adam Browne, co-writer, co-director and performer in Bladderwrack, coming to Explosives Factory November 5-15.

Q: It's not often that a show coming to Theatre Works describes itself as a comedy-horror-science-fiction-pantomime-pirate-show-with-bits-of-opera. What does that look like?

Almost exactly what it sounds like.

Q: How much of yourselves exists in Saucy Jack and Bagfoot?

When I asked a friend to recommend actors to play Bagfoot, he said I should play it, because, he said, it’s the perfect part for me. This was a surprise. I got another surprise the next day when David said the same thing. I accused him of talking to the other actor, but no. It turns out I am Bagfoot, who is noted for performing the LOONGEST FART EVER TO BLOW ON THE ANTIPODEAN STAGE!!

David has said that the play is a celebration of our friendship. When I decided against playing the part, he was okay with it, mainly because it meant I would get the pleasure of being in the audience. I found this eerily thoughtful, and also he was spot-on. In CS Lewis’s Perelandra, or Voyage to Venus, there’s a singing creature which is only happy when it’s hidden in the forests of the floating Venusian islands, unseen while its song is heard.

Q: Unsatiated with the bounds of one art form, you've also released illustrations, literature and poetry surrounding the play. What will those who peruse the BOOK OF PLAY see that no-one else will?

When I began illustrating the script, it reminded me of the Goon Show Scripts, which were published with drawings by the three main guys. I also thought of the Monty Python books, which were better than the show, beautifully designed and written. That’s how the book began, made by the designer and publisher Simon Petrie.

There’s a lot of backstory in the book, a lot of details that help with understanding the play.

The play is set on a galleon called the Vivisectress!, which is a Ship of Theseus -- always changing and always the same. That gave us room to write other stories set on the Vivisectress! -- some will be available as audiobooks at AntipodeanSF

Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?

There’s ‘expect the unexpected’, then there’s this play. Every time we do a full run-through, David shouts at the end, ‘What the fuck is this?’

Q: What's been the most memorable part of your process so far?

The whole thing has been happening outside of time for me, especially now we’re actually rehearsing. This is my first proper play; it’s all a blur -- I don’t know what bit will be most memorable. Maybe the new rehearsal building, the open feel of it, makes you want to create. Or the time we tried to rehearse in the Explosives Factory on the day a tornado hit Melbourne and we couldn’t hear anything at all. Or maybe something else -- I’ll get back to you on that.

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Bladderwrack opens on November 5 at Explosives Factory, and plays until November 15.

Click here to get your tickets!