Fringe Fever: we catch up with Jennifer Williams… in Ireland
Jennifer Williams isn’t actually in Melbourne. In fact it took her moving to Ireland to organize her first Fringe show. No Matter Where You Go, There You Are is a conversation between two performers about travel, migration and belonging. Jennifer is an Australian, now based in Ireland. She’s performing (live and on video) with Cathie Clinton, in Irish woman, now based in Australia.
Jennifer Williams isn’t actually in Melbourne. In fact it took her moving to Ireland to organize her first Fringe show. No Matter Where You Go, There You Are is a conversation between two performers about travel, migration and belonging. Jennifer is an Australian, now based in Ireland. She’s performing (live and on video) with Cathie Clinton, in Irish woman, now based in Australia.
Show Info:
No Matter Where You Go, There You Are When is it on?
26 September – 9 October
Clifton Creative Arts Centre, Richmond, Melbourne How do you get there by public transport?
Trams 78 and 79, stop 60 Is there parking?
Street parking
8pm
How much are tickets?
$20/$15, $10 preview (26 Sept) Are tickets available at the door?
Yes.
A Quick Chat With Jennifer Williams…
1. What three words best describe you Fringe show? Unique, intimate, heartfelt.
2. Who does your show speak to? Anyone who has ever packed up and travelled, anyone who has ever had a dream to do so!
3. What other Fringe show will you NOT miss? Unfortunately I’ll miss them all, as I’m overseas, but I would love to see A Personal War. If I was recommending shows, I’d tell you to see Bluey by Phil Spencer, I saw it a few years ago in Sydney, and its personal, charming and interesting. I think Bluey and No Matter Where You Go, There You Are would make a nice double feature… 🙂
4. What other Fringe show do you wish you were in? Cut Snake. I worked with Paige Rattray last year and she’s a fabulous director.
5. What do you love most about the Melbourne Fringe? You know, I’ve never been, so I can’t tell you! But, looking at the program, I would say I love how the program is so creative and eclectic. I love how so many spaces that might not be used as performance venues during the year become theatres during the Fringe.
6. How many Melbourne Fringes have you performed in? This is my first!
7. If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be? In no particular order, Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.
8. What is the best theatre advice you’ve received? From a wonderful Russian director: “The purpose of the actor is to get offstage as quickly as possible.” Keeps things in perspective.
9. What was your most embarrassing moment on stage? I was 13. I was meant to say to a boy onstage, “I’ll hang up your clothes.” I said, “I’ll take off your clothes.” Someone’s mother then felt the need, backstage, to point it out to everyone in the cast who hadn’t noticed or hadn’t heard. Cue approximately forty 10–16 year olds turning to me, staring and then breaking out into hysterical laughter.
10. Do you have any pre- or post-show rituals? I usually have a meltdown just before the opening of a show, which involves an argument with a fellow cast member, crew member or audience member, hysterical tears and then exhaustion. I wouldn’t say it’s a fun, or pre-planned, pre-show ritual, but it certainly seems to happen to me every time a show of mine opens.
11. What was the last book you read? One Day. Read it. Don’t see the movie. READ IT.
12. What film will you watch again and again? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
13. What show changed how you see theatre? Why? I read The Crucible when I was 12, and it was the first show I had come across that didn’t involve characters breaking out into song when they were emotional. It really stuck in my mind, because it was the first straight play I was genuinely interested in. I was obsessed with it, and used to act out the final scene (playing both Elizabeth and Proctor) by myself in my room. I loved screaming, in tears, at the top of my lungs, “Because it is my name!”.
14. What was your first time on stage? I was 7. I was playing a disciple in a church play. I was pissed off ’cause I had to be a boy and wear a white sheet. I wanted to be a girl and wear a pretty skirt.
15. What is the first theatre show you remember seeing? Does Disney on Ice count? I was 5.
16. What director/actor/writer would you just die to work with? Alan Rickman, so I could kiss him. Colin Firth, so I could kiss him. Viggo Mortensen… so I could kiss him. This wasn’t a serious question, was it?
17. Where in Melbourne do you always take visitors? I’ve never taken a visitor anywhere in Melbourne, but if I did, I would take them to Williamstown. It’s like being in a cute, English seaside village.
18. How do you have your coffee? I only drink tea. I have that with milk, thank you.
19. What’s the best pizza topping? Cheese. Just cheese. Why confuse things?
20. What do love most about your Fringe show? That it’s actually happening. That I’ve organised most of from overseas on my laptop. That it took me moving to Ireland to get a show up at the Melbourne Fringe.
