Black and white photo of a woman with long hair, wearing glasses, holding one arm up against a brick wall. Overlaid text in yellow reads: "Everyone in my family is dead or about to be."

Some captures from my day in the space @thearthousewyong under the brilliant, unrelenting direction of Nadia Townsend.

We’ve been working on my one woman show, a dark comedy about death. If anyone’s worked with Nadia before, you’ll already know that she is not a woman who’ll let you get away with scooting about the surface of things. Saying something just because it’s ‘kinda funny’ is never satisfying.

Today I poked and prodded into corners I’d rather avoid, I used my voice and my body in ways I thought I never could, I cried once or twice, and I realised that even in the darkest corners of memory, there is still laughter to be had.

The work is challenging; nothing less than my complete, embodied attention is worthy of it - and I’m a better performer, and person because of it.

Nadia and Craig at The Art House for all of it.

A woman is crouching on a wooden dance studio floor with arms extended outward, in a squatting pose, in an industrial-style room with brick walls, black curtain, and stage lighting.
A woman with long hair in a black t-shirt and black pants kneels on the floor with her head down, her right palm on the ground, and her left palm also touching the ground, in a dimly lit room with a brick wall and a black curtain in the background.
A woman with long dark hair and a black shirt raising her right arm with her middle finger extended, standing in front of a brick wall.
A woman sitting on the wooden floor in front of a brick wall, facing away, with her right hand raised and looks like she is talking or gesturing.
Woman sitting on a yoga mat, writing in a notebook with a pen, in a studio with folding chairs, stacked shelves, and stage curtains in the background.

Videos of work in progress

Over the last year, I have been testing excerpts from my show on various live audiences here on the Central Coast. These are some of the videos.