🌀 01: Imposter Syndrome
Hello! This is the first edition of a newsletter I’m calling In the Round. I hope you like it.
✍️ On Writing Criticism About Your Pals
A couple of days ago I came across this gorgeous piece unpacking the messiness of writing about theatre while also moving in theatre circles. I've been thinking about what I want to do re: writing more about theatre this year and a lot of what the writers at Exeunt said resonated with me:
I believe strongly that critics can and should also be makers, if only to appreciate the graft that goes in – but it is further complicated when you feel that your integrity is on the line.
and
A landscape where everyone knows everyone can lack critical rigour, too willing to over-applaud things. It’s hard to be critical of something when you like the people involved and you’re going to see them next week.
A lot to think about. For the time being I'm going to review what I'm invited to review and write little thoughts here about what I'm not invited to review. I hope that'll work for now.
🪖 A Worrying Snapshot of America
On a long drive down to Phillip Island I read this incredibly well-researched and frankly terrifying investigation into American militias conducted by an undercover leftist. His investigations detailed training methods, connections with government, and plans for the future of america.
He still plans to release thousands of files after this article is published — evidence tying sheriffs and police officers to the movement, his proudest coup, plus other records he hopes could become ammo for lawsuits. But Williams wants to let his former comrades know “a faggot is doing this to them.” He thinks his story could be his most effective weapon.
🎭 Guy Webster's Review of 2024
A couple of days after I finished my analysis of my 2024 theatre diet, Guy Webster released their overview of theatre last year. I really adore Guy’s writing which is both fun and incredibly insightful.
The most common story on our stages was one undergirded by an earnest belief in our capacity as individuals and the value of community as well as an interest in testing the limits and obstacles of this capacity.
Guy also included this killer observation which is exactly why so much gay theatre is really not to my liking.
I would go so far as to say that much Melbourne-based theatre by gay men faces a similar problem: stuck in its history and struggling to be propelled by it.
It’s a really great overview of our industry, highly recommended.
It's been a quick start to the year, theatrically speaking.
My first show of the year was Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen. A very good very fun show in the style of Fleabag but a little more gay and a little more apologetically millennial. The day after Georgie and I woke up bright and early, made a pancake breakfast and caught Tinkerbell & the Dream Fairies.
On Tuesday I saw Spark at Theatre Works. A 90 minute show about gay dating and The Apps™ and finding your voice (?) which ultimately didn't click for me.
As a general rule, I'm wary of stories about accepting your body. I find they tend to sidestep systemic issues in favor of idioms about how we're all beautiful inside and how we just need to believe in ourselves. Maybe some of us are ugly, and maybe that's ok. As Mia Mingus explains
We all run from the ugly. And the farther we run from it, the more we stigmatize it and the more power we give beauty. Our communities are obsessed with being beautiful and gorgeous and hot. What would it mean if we were ugly? What would it mean if we didn’t run from our own ugliness or each other’s? How do we take the sting out of “ugly?”
I just wonder how stories like this might be more insightful if we confront our obsession with beauty.
The week after also included visits to see Thirty-Six, Dead to Me, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Thirty-Six was a beautiful intergenerational reflection on trans life and death. Dead to Me was an enjoyable comic walking tour documenting a millennial gay man’s experiences dating a stalker—fun, but very conventional. And The Merry Wives of Windsor was… decidedly not for me. Shakespeare is not my vibe, and the addition of R2D2 and C3PO did little to pique my interest. So it goes.
Hey so 2024 was crazy and after almost burning out I'm taking it a little slower this year. I haven't started The Artist's Way, I'm not signed on to any projects, I'm still unemployed, and I'm not letting myself feel bad about any of it.
Instead I'm collecting books and articles and videos and songs which might build into a new show. During lockdown I interviewed a handful of friends asking them to predict my death and I think it’s time I pull out that verbatim text and do something with it. So I’m thinking about making a theatrical dress rehearsal of my funeral. Maybe I’ll call it This Has to Have a Happy Ending. We’ll see. It feels good to commit to spending time in the primordial thinking stage of making theatre.
I was also lucky enough to spend last weekend knuckled down with my fellow Greenroom judges chatting about the best theatre of 2024. I can't wait until after the awards ceremony to start yapping about the winners.
And that’s been my past week or so. Looking ahead to a week filled with great theatre by great people and also great job applications written by a definitely very employable queerfat theatremaker.
P.S. I’ve also set up a running tally of every show I've seen in 2025 which gets automatically refreshed with new shows I see, isn’t technology neat?