In Conversation with Ellis Austin Finnie | Fairytalers
In today's Backstage at Fringe, we spoke to Ellis Austin Finnie, writer of Fairytalers, which comes to Explosives Factory this fringe after a sold-out season last year!
Once upon a time, there lived four women who invented fairy tales... You're cordially invited to attend the salon of the 'Conteuses Précieuses.' Long before the Brothers Grimm, there was Charlotte, Catherine, Marie and Henriette. And they're pretty annoyed you're not talking about them. They were heroines, poets, ingenues and lovers. They were accused of treason, locked in towers, subject to constant scandals and declared to be witches. And the most remarkable tale never told is their lives.
Q: Welcome to Theatre Works! How are preparations going so far?
ELLIS: It's been fabulous. I'm very grateful to have a supportive team around me, led by our director [Gabrielle Ward] who's been a dream to work with. This is my second time putting on 'Fairytalers,' and it's wonderful to have Gab in the driver's seat and see her interpretation of the text. While she's honoured the script she's also made it wholly her own, and her imagination is incredible.
Q: You're sitting in a bar on a warm October night. Eyes drifting across the room, softly swirling your drink in your hands, and bam. There they are. Your exact target audience member. Can you describe them?
ELLIS: I'd know them at once. They'd be lovers of all things gaudy and glittery. They'd either be drinking a cocktail with edible glitter swirled through it, or nursing the kind of gin you could run a car on. They'd have a dirty sense of humour and a mischevious streak. Most importantly, they'll be ready to hear us spin a flax-golden yarn that will take them from the Palace of Versailles to the yellowing pages of old library books.
Q: What will audiences find in your show that they can't find anywhere else at Fringe?
ELLIS: We have a book of fairy tales that conjures shadow puppets, magic wands and portraits of 17th century French dandies with sequined moustaches glued onto them. And if there's another Fringe show with all of the above, please make yourself known to me because I'd LOVE to support your show.
Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?
ELLIS: I think they'll be shocked to discover how vastly these women influenced the genre of fairy tales. The Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault tend to get credit for the enduring popularity of European folk tales, but its thanks to Catherine, Charlotte, Henriette and Marie that stories like 'Cinderella' and 'Rapunzel' first entered the canon.
Q: What has been the most memorable moment in your process so far?
ELLIS: For me, it was being in the rehearsal room with our four actresses [Ellie Carroll, Grace Gemmell, Olivia Morison and Daisy Valerio] for the first time. It's always such a thrill when the voices of the characters go from being something I've only heard in my head to being alive and tangible. At the risk of sounding sentimental, it really felt as if the spirits of these women were back in the room with us, if only 90 minutes.
Fairytalers plays at Explosives Factory 29 September - 3 October as a part of Melbourne Fringe.
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