House of Oz - BIRDS Q&A
BIRDS is a camp, absurd Australian comedy theatre show written and performed by Alex Hines and Sarah Stafford. Billed as Waiting for Godot meets Kath & Kim, it follows two women—a wealthy divorcee and a mother of twelve—who escape to the beach only for the world to bizarrely unravel around them.
Please tell us about your show. What can audiences expect when they come to see it?
Concerts of the Future is a show you do! Instead of taking a seat in the audience, you step onto the stage and play Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 alongside the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. When you come to see our show, you can expect to play on stage with one of five instruments from a future orchestra, and the best part is you can’t play a wrong note. It runs for about thirty minutes, needs no musical experience, and you walk out with a video of yourself performing with the MSO.
What inspired it?
We started with a simple question: what if anyone could walk into a concert hall and play? Concert halls are riddled with invisible barriers, whether it’s the cost, the etiquette or the assumption that music is something only trained people get to make. To remove those barriers, we wanted to put everyone on stage and let them play.
How does it feel to be performing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Thrilling and slightly terrifying in the best possible way. The Edinburgh Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world, and it really is the one place where you can put an experimental, hands-on idea in front of the most curious audience you can imagine. We can’t wait to see what audiences do with the work and the wonderful ways they might play.
What does it mean to be part of House of Oz this year?
House of Oz has become such a champion for Australian work at the Edinburgh Fringe and it’s because of them that artists from the other side of the planet can actually get to Edinburgh. We are so lucky to be a part of a diverse Australian line-up, supported by an organisation that brings Australian arts to the world stage.
What does it mean to bring your work to UK audiences?
It matters hugely. So much of the research and the building of a work like this has happened quietly in a lab in Melbourne, and we’re excited for the work to meet a wider audience. Audiences at the Fringe are curious, generous and completely up for something new, which is exactly what a participatory experience needs.
What would you like UK audiences to know about Antipodean arts and culture right now?
That it’s bolder and more innovative than its size suggests. One thing we’ve really noticed is that Australian and New Zealand artists tend to work across forms and disciplines with ease, and that makes for really interesting art. We’d also want people to know how much extraordinary First Nations work is coming out of Australia right now – Australia is home to one of the oldest continuing artistic cultures in the world.
What kind of support do artists need most when bringing work overseas?
The financial risk is the biggest barrier (and the least romantic thing to talk about!). We are so lucky to have the support of House of Oz to bring new Australian work overseas. Touring is wonderful but brutally expensive, and for artists coming from Australia those costs are big even before a single ticket is sold. The most valuable support is the kind that removes the risk in that process, which is exactly what House of Oz does.
What’s next for you after Edinburgh?
We’ve built Concerts of the Future to tour, so the hope is that Edinburgh is the start of a long life on the road, bringing it to festivals and venues who want to put their audiences on stage!