In this week's Backstage Blog, we are joined by writer and performer Ryan Henry who chats about writing and putting on their upcoming play, SPARK, opening at Theatre Works next week on January 21 to kick off the 2025 Midsumma Festival!

Q. What should audiences expect when they come to see SPARK?
A. A night of quick, camp theatre. It’s an explosion of emotion packed into a short time frame. The show is fast, fast, fast but you’ll never feel as though you can’t keep up with it. SPARK jumps from the bedroom, to the club, to a cute picnic to the depths of the mysterious iCloud. It is chaos that packs a punch but is pushed forward by heart and if you feel the urge to get up and dance along once we hit our 11 o’clock number, we’ve done our jobs right.
Q. If SPARK was a dating app, what app would it be?
A. On the surface, I think you would look at it and go “Yep. Grindr.” In actuality, it is a culmination of all the worst traits that dating apps have to offer. Throw in a few familiar (but not as “romantic”) apps such as BOM, Candy Crush and good ol’ Instagram and that is what SPARK is - less app, more the entire smartphone itself.
Q. What inspired you to create this work?
A. The work sparked (pun may or may not be intended) after I completed my one man show CULT. It explored this idea of best self and was set within a workout at a gym. This idea of “best” stuck with me and there were elements from the original CULT draft that I cut because the world I created didn’t support exploring them. So a spiritual sequel was born out of these ideas and applying it to the phrase “better half.” This concept that, although it may not be the true meaning of the phrase, has been misconstrued to make an individual believe that they are not complete without another person. A better person. Find them and you by association will be better. I also enjoy writing to reflect the now and given the digital age that we live in, SPARK has a enormous sci-fi element to it. As a creative, I love exploring extreme environments and I was excited to create a text that was built around technology but was received by an audience in a theatre. SPARK has a Marvel aesthetic thrown up against the scaffold of live theatre and I love the challenges and joys that that has brought.
Q. If SPARK were to have a Spotify Wrapped, what would it look like?
A. The wonderful thing about this question is that I use Spotify playlists when creating work – it’s my white noise and fuels the writing. For SPARK, it had to be gay, upbeat and best heard in that golden hour of a party or club where everyone is dancing, and you have a sweet 30-45 minutes before everyone starts to get tired and leave – that is audio essence of the show. And it was essential for it to be Australian pop, so (Her Majesty) Kylie Minogue was a must. If the show had a playlist name it would probably be along the lines of “Aussie Pop Princess Healing Through Chaos” or something to that effect.
Q. What has been the most memorable moment throughout the creation / rehearsal process?
A. Hearing the script read aloud for the first time once we had a cast was a pretty amazing moment for me as the writer. It’s one thing to have heard this dialogue over and over again in my head for last few months. It’s another to have it make sense and have it re-interpreted by the phenomenal cast we have. Alongside that, to see the cast and creative team bring it to life on the floor. I just sat and watched in awe in one of our rehearsals the other night at the world being created– that was a pretty magical moment for me.
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