Adrienne Truscott’s collaborative work with Dublin-based company Brokentalkers, which has taken Edinbourgh Fringe, Melbourne RISING Festival and now Sydney Festival with Masterclass. With comedic flair, fake moustaches and wigs, they cut down dick-swinging playwrights and their allies with surgical aim.

What has been your journey into theatre ?

I think the word ‘theatre’ might over-classify what I end up making, which is live performance – which I think remains a truly radical space for engagement. I started making work as a dancer and choreographer, and for me that form teaches an artist ways to manage attention, focus, time, space, physicality, language, audience energy and engagement. From dance and choreography I started experimenting with circus, cabaret, stand up comedy and other forms. Eventually my work went from being more text-based than movement based, which I think is why it appears, increasingly, to be ‘theatre’. I think the Brokentalkers identity more as theatre makers and the different approaches our differences provide is part of what contributes to the uniqueness of this piece! I also think having a queer lens on all of the above forms changes them inherently from their more traditional expressions.

Tell me about your experience of developing and performing your story as part of Masterclass?

I met Feidlim (co-artistic director of Brokentalkers) in Sydney! We were both doing shows there and became fast friends and co-conspirators in the many things Sydney and Sydney Festival have to offer. We stayed in touch and always talked about working together – eventually doing a residency together in NYC. Then I pitched them some of the seminal ideas in Masterclass, they applied for funding (in Ireland, the US is hopeless!) and we began working on it. The initial idea was something that I felt would be far more rich if it was made with white-cis-straight men taking on some of the issues interrogated in the
piece. And Feidlim (and Gary (co-artistic director Brokentalkers) really brought an incredible amount of formal experimentation, openness, honesty, humour and goofiness and, I reckon in this day and age, a kind of courage and willingness that I absolutely cherish.

What is the one message every person who sees your Masterclass performance should take with them out of the theatre?

I’m not sure how I feel about ‘messages’. I think we’ve made a piece that actually celebrates questioning whether or not the ‘message’ in a piece is necessarily equal to the opinions of the makers (a presumption I think a lot of male makers are free from
(and can sometimes hide behind) and a lot of femme and queer makers are saddled with. It’s particularly slippery in our piece – I (or a character named Adrienne) say some things that might be considered incredibly extreme to some or just self-evident to others; things some people could feel are outrageous and some could feel grateful someone finally said it. Whether or not that is what I believe or just playwriting intended to expand an argument or make for a great exchange (or maybe all of those things?) is up to each audience member – and part of the fun!

What do you enjoy about the Aussie theatre scene, and what needs to change?

I absolutely LOVE performing in Australia – I’ve done it with my solo work, as The Wau Wau Sisters, in group shows (La Clique/La Soirée), in collaborations (with Ursula Martinez and Zoe Coombs Marr) and now with Brokentalkers. I think one of my favourite things about the Aussie theatre scene is that it does not over-segregate by form or genre. Artists seem more able to traverse different forms (and thus engage with different audiences). I also think that somehow Australian venues, presenters and artists have helped to create a pretty open-minded national audience open to seeing lots of things. In the US I think it’s
much harder to have a dance audience cross-pollinate with a comedy audience, whereas things like the Fringe circuit naturally cross-pollinate these audiences. It’s pretty amazing. In terms of things that could change, I’m certain that equity and access – at all levels, not just programming – needs to diversify, and specifically address indigeneity.

What type of wine would you pair with Masterclass, and why?

I like a Malbec – a bit smoky with hints of tobacco, good for every gender, but convincing to the Hemingway types who just want a scotch or a bourbon….Wait! Sorry! That’s not Australian!! Oh my god, what have I done?….Will no one who reads this come to the show now? Ok, change of tack – I think a dry, robust but sparkly rosé to celebrate the final demise of the overly-celebrated, self-appointed, great male artist/’genius’/enfant terrible! Cheers and down the hatch. See you at the bar!

Find out more about Masterclass here.