What can you tell us about the ideas behind Animal/People?
I wanted to make something riveting. My favourite theatre experiences are those where you’re literally on the edge of your seat. It doesn’t happen too often and it’s not easy to do, but that’s what I was aiming for with this show. I also like plays where the audience has to work quite hard – that was one of my criteria for writing this play.
You’ve chosen a particular style with which to present these stories – why did the monologue appeal?
The most riveting experience I’ve had in the theatre was the original UK production of Grounded – a one-woman play about a contemporary female American fighter pilot who develops PTSD. I’d already started writing this play but seeing this show really brought home to me that the monologue form, when done well, has the power to thrill and get to places you otherwise can’t access. It’s the right form for a psychological thriller.
Is animal instinct really our default mode as human beings, even in suburbia?
What else is there? All the other stuff – like psychology, emotions, codes of behaviour – aren’t ‘real’, they’re just things humans have created words for.
Is there such a thing as being born a bad person, or do people only become them?
Psychologists and scientists working in this space have different ideas, but the consensus seems to be it’s usually a mixture of nature and nurture. I’m interested in the work of Australian bioethicist Julian Savulescu, who talks about the possibility of screening for genetic factors that can lead to psychopathy. I met someone recently whose mother is a doctor. Ten years ago she had a patient – a five-year-old – who kept trying to kill his little sister. The parents didn’t know what to do, they just couldn’t change his behaviour and they were naturally terrified he’d eventually succeed. The doctor concluded that this child was born this way, that he should be excluded from society and they had him institutionalised.
How closely have you been involved with Rock Surfers Theatre Company’s production of your play?
Very much. We’ve had a great development process and everyone has contributed really valuable insights that went into the final draft – the sound designer, the set designer, everyone working on the show.
Rock Surfers Theatre Co. presents Animal/Peopleis on atBondi Pavilion Theatre,Wednesday April 29 – Saturday May 16.
