It's hard to beat a good story. Login or signup to continue reading Ang Collins has always held Blueberry Play close to her. She wrote the play eight years ago when she was 22, and while is it a comedy and fictional, elements of it were openly drawn from her own youth.
Now, for the first time, the play has a run in Newcastle, Collins' home town, with four shows from August 14 through August 17 at the Civic Playhouse. It is the first of the four works commissioned by the City of Newcastle to be presented as part of the Upstage at the Playhouse program for 2024. The city chose four productions to invest in with space, marketing and technical help to encourage local creatives in the arts.
"It's from a very special, raw time in my life, and it keeps resonating with people," Collins says of B lueberry Play . "I've kind of kept it close for a long time. It's always a joy to bring it back.
" Blueberry Play was shortlisted for the prestigious Griffin Award in 2017, and has been produced twice. Promotional material for the play describes it thusly: "Being 17 is awkward. Having to take care of your sick dad when you're 17 is another story.
.. Blueberry Play is a vivid and heart-bursting monologue that explores the high highs and the low lows of being a teenage girl in a small town.
.. this is an Aussie coming-of-age story with a refreshing twist.
" Collins drew inspiration from her own experience and that of a very close friend. While the fictional play is not set in Newcastle, Collins says locals will recognise places like Lambton pool, Hamilton and Cooks Hill. "Even though it is not a fact, it's fiction, it still feels very truthful and very close to the parts of my life that I cherish," Collins says.
"It's a very personal story, which is why I am really excited to share it again with other people and maybe hopefully have it resonate for them, too. Blue, who is the only character in the production, is played by Madelaine Osborn, who also starred in Collins' work Spewy , which had a run at New Annual in 2023. Adam Deusien, artistic director of Lingua Franca, is the director.
This version of the play will feature sound design by Clare Hennessy, who has just finished the score. "The sound design really holds the character of Blueberry girl, and illustrates her emotional inner life," Collins says. "Clare is using a lot of voice and breath as instruments.
We've actually recorded the performer Maddy's voice, so it's almost like a choir with herself, which should be cool." The Playhouse is an intimate venue, with raked seating and a small stage area, so there will be minimal props, and maximum attention on Osborn, the star, for what is a 70-minute monologue. "It's a lot of lines to learn, Maddy's never done it before, but she's already got it all down," Collins says of the challenge of a monologue show.
"In a play with multiple characters, you can rely on other people to cover you, or respond, but you've really got to have it in you for a solo show. But I have the utmost confidence in her. She's a gun.
" There was never any doubt it was going to be a one-person play. "I love monologues," Collins says. "Sometimes I find it is really helpful cutting through all the craft stuff and just getting a story down on the page.
I find it very raw and emotional, and that's what the play is trying to convey in a way with jokes and good stories and stuff. I think the form suits the content. "When I wrote it, I wrote it in a one week or two weeks, and I've been tweaking it ever since.
The basis was a big flow of story that just kind of landed on the page." And the words are still flowing: Collins is adapting the play into a novel. "I've deepened the well," she says.
"Added more plot, more detail. added the shading and colour, done the deep dive, it's a total different form." Jim Kellar writes about culture, art, food, drinks and music.
He's been a journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1997. [email protected].
au Jim Kellar writes about culture, art, food, drinks and music. He's been a journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1997. jkellar@newcastleherald.
com.au.
