In Conversation with Bron Batten | Waterloo

In this week's backstage blog, we sat down with Bron Batten, the creator and performer of Waterloo - opening soon at Theatre Works.

Award-winning performer Bron Batten wrestles with love and war in an explosive interrogation of her ill-fated affair with a conservative military official. A bittersweet romance crossed with an action blockbuster, Waterloo explores what happens when a lefty, Greens voting, almost vegan theatre artist dates a right-wing, cigar smoking Margaret Thatcher-loving Tory soldier.

Coming to Theatre Works 8-12 July!

Q: What should audiences expect when they come to see Waterloo?

A: Waterloo is a contemporary performance about some big themes - love, war, politics and morality – but also contains a lot of humour and pathos. The work uses direct address, storytelling, audience participation, physical theatre and projection to experiment with the distance between theatrical and real violence. This happens by using actual and simulated weapons and some special effects, including a very real explosion- which requires extensive risk assessments!

Q: What is the origin story of this show? How did it come to fruition?

A: Waterloo went through several other iterations before I settled on this current form. It was initially about micronations and then about global security, before I realised that it was essentially a love story.

The show is about someone that I met when I was on an arts residency in Paris in 2015. He turned out to be a highly decorated, high ranking UK military official. We occupied different political polarities and yet formed an intense connection - and our time together formed the core narrative of this work.

I developed Waterloo whilst on residencies in France and Vitalstatistix in Adelaide and then presented a work in progress showing at Melbourne Fringe in 2019. It’s changed massively since then and has had award-winning seasons in Perth, Darwin Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Bondi Festival in Sydney.

Q: Is there a moment in the show that is your favourite to perform?

A: There are fun moments all the way through but there’s one towards the end that if pitched right elicits an audible gasp from the audience - and that is particularly satisfying…!

Q: What do you hope audiences will take away after seeing Waterloo?

A: Waterloo poses a lot of questions to the audience and prompts them to consider the murky complexity of the themes from a very personal perspective. In the past the show has been quite divisive – but I think sometimes that can be a good thing. I hope the work will provoke reflection and discussion amongst the audience and perhaps a healthy debate in the car on the way home.

Q: What has been the most memorable moment through this creative process?

A: There have been many – road testing the explosion way back in 2019 provided some logistical challenges! But navigating the responsibility of talking about someone who is a real and complex human with balance and humanity has been something I have deeply considered throughout this creative process.

I’m so looking forward to sharing this new version of the work with Melbourne audiences and can’t wait to see you there.

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Make sure you don't miss out on Waterloo, playing at Theatre Works 8-12 July!! Use the link below to get your tickets while you still can!!

Click here to get tickets!