Theatre Interview – Virgia Gay (MTC Cyrano) – Lot's Wife Magaze

Contents:

• VIRGIA GAY: I HAVE NO TERT GETTG MARRIED UNTIL WE HAVE MARRIAGE EQUALY
• THEATRE INTERVIEW – VIRGIA GAY (MTC CYRANO)
• VIRGIA GAY
• CYRANO REVIEW – VIRGIA GAY SH THIS BOLD, QUEER REIMAGG
• ERTHA GAY CARR
• DIVERSE REER BRGS VIRGIA GAY BACK TO MELBOURNE
• HELLISH: COVID-19 AND A BROKEN HEART FUEL VIRGIA GAY’S NEW-LOOK CYRANO

VIRGIA GAY: I HAVE NO TERT GETTG MARRIED UNTIL WE HAVE MARRIAGE EQUALY

Virgia Gay: I have no tert gettg married until we have marriage equalyBy Jane RocOctober 13, 2017 — 2.

Astonishgly, he turned out to be gay.

"Virgia Gay appears on Network Ten's new game show, Cram, on Tudays at 7.

THEATRE INTERVIEW – VIRGIA GAY (MTC CYRANO)

19pmThis wrap of shows around Melbourne clus Virgia Gay’s imagative adaptatn of a classic, a double bill of morn Amerin opera, an imaged enunter between Mart Luther Kg Jr. THEATRECyrano ★★½Virgia Gay after Edmond Rostand, MTC, until October 29Awash wh low edy and the irreprsible spir of amatr theatre, Virgia Gay’s ee adaptatn of Cyrano Bergerac will make you lgh and snort and snigger, even as stumbl at transfigurg the ridiculo to the Narkle and Virgia Gay the Melbourne Theatre Company productn of Jeff BbyOn paper, the show is a hot ticket. No one who saw Gay Calamy Jane uld doubt her geni for edy, and there was every reason to thk she’d brg the same quick-off-the-draw w, heightened timacy, and razor-sharp timg to Rostand’s unorthodox hero.

Unfortunately, Gay isn’t as seasoned a wrer as she is a performer, and while you will, most certaly, lgh at this adaptatn – Gay is the kd of actor who uld make the phone book funny – you may sometim wonr whether you trouble don’t lie queerg Cyrano or reversg the character’s genr, but the lip-service Gay’s script pays to poetry. Here, there is an almost perverse aversn to the magic of words – a bumblg meta-theatril ame tak over; high rhetoric is chewed favour of humour that plays to the lowt mon are patiently explaed by Cyrano (Gay) and her merry chos of am-dram clowns (Milo Hartill, Rob Goldsworthy and Holly At), and they’re sometim enacted as if they were a gdgg afterthought, a way that feels patronisg to dienc and disrpectful to the artistry of the of which is to ny the ensemble creat lively and divertg moments, om jnty chos numbers to the silly ventriloquism of Cyrano woog on behalf of Cl Jabbour’s ultimate himbo, although you’ll have to wa through dick jok, and other forlorn attempts at w, to get to them.

A scene om Cyrano at Melbourne Theatre Jeff BbyIt’s a shame, too, for anyone (myself clud) who would leap at the chance to see Gay perform any of Rostand’s sweepg speech the plat translatn. Or ed what drove Gay to rort to so much low-hangg edic u, when Cyrano spurns the ia of g language to “be a buffoon/ the vile hope of teasg out a se/ on some ld face.

VIRGIA GAY

Virgia Gay on why she’s sayg Cyranope to outmod moral standards joyo new adaptatn of Rostand’s classic play.

Virgia Gay is poised to remd Melburnians of the magic of theatre, settg this ont and centrtage her adaptatn of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano Bergerac. Cyrano is g to Melbourne Theatre Company’s Southbank Theatre, directed by Sarah Goos and starrg Gay the tle role, later this month.

Virgia Gay has been remarkably productive over the past 18 months. Gay’s h adaptatn of the classic French play Cyrano Bergerac is one such product of the latter optn. Gay, bt known for her work on the Atralian silver screen (All Sats, Wners & Losers), on the big screen (Judy & Punch) and on stage (Calamy Jane, Vivid Whe, The Beast), is now addg playwright to her already imprsive CV.

CYRANO REVIEW – VIRGIA GAY SH THIS BOLD, QUEER REIMAGG

As well as penng the adaptatn, Gay is starrg as Cyrano herself, genr-flippg the tradnally heteronormative role and love story, and prentg morn dienc wh a joyful, mil celebratn of queer romance and hope. The play’s source material, origally wrten 1897 by Edmond Rostand, is scribed by Gay as somethg of a “proto rom-”. Wrg her adaptatn of Cyrano durg a global panmic gave Gay the chance to reflect on the sence of what she believ this play is about: “somebody a spend state of longg… reachg for somethg they know they nnot touch”.

In a time where so many are separated, unable to nnect wh one another physilly or ways they might otherwise want to, Gay seeks to tap to this llective longg for nnectn through layg bare her protagonist’s vulnerabili. In addn to explorg the ndn of lonels, isolatn, and the often sry prospect of beg vulnerable, Gay’s visn for the show is ultimately to create a “fuckg glor celebratn of everythg that is theatre – that thg we haven’t been able to do for the past 18 months”. Hopg that the show will “give people a huge dose of everythg wonrful about theatre and everythg they have missed”, Gay has prrised brgg those magil “moments of heartfelt tth” to theatre-prived dienc.

Png down exactly what is that mak the shared experience of beg a theatre so magil is not difficult for Gay:.

ERTHA GAY CARR

Gay tells me that the way she v an dience to a world she has created is by havg a direct nversatn wh them: “You should have an open flow of energy and leral munitn wh the dience, they are the fal character and are different every night”. The power of language, voice, and agency is also central to Gay’s play. Insistg that each of the six characters the play have their own dividual voic, and givg the character of Roxanne agency, was a further creative cisn Gay felt was necsary orr to tell this story to today’s dienc, and to tell right.

Gay tak her rponsibily as a playwright and storyteller to further progrsn, rather than rerce existg stereotyp, serly. Takg the liberty, and re, to adapt this work to somethg ronant and relevant to dienc 2021 was perhaps the biggt challenge for Gay adaptg this work. Gay explas that part of her privilege as a storyteller wh a platform is to “change the stori we tell our children – you n’t be what you n’t see, [and whout changg those narrativ] there is no progrsn”.

DIVERSE REER BRGS VIRGIA GAY BACK TO MELBOURNE

Calamy Jane), Gay is more than up for the challenge.

Though we mt wa wh bated breath to see what Gay has e up wh, one thg she n discs is the (new) happy endg. Gay emphasis that not havg all the characters die at the end (as is the se the origal play) was non-negotiable.

HELLISH: COVID-19 AND A BROKEN HEART FUEL VIRGIA GAY’S NEW-LOOK CYRANO

“If you have a queer female Cyrano played by a queer female Virgia Gay, I will not add to stori that say queer love is impossible and you should kill your gays… I have no tert tellg those stori and addg weight to those stori”.

Whether Melburnians will have the privilege of seeg Gay’s work on stage next week is partially the hands of our Premier and partially the hands of our fellow cizens. If there is one that n help remedy that universally unrstood, llective feelg of hopelsns we’ve all experienced over the past year, ’s gog to be Gay’s Cyrano. I certaly know I’ll be first le to wns Gay weave her magic on stage once aga.