Happy Mondays – Lucas Stibbard

7 Sep 2015

Brisbane based artist Lucas Stibbard tells us about his work, some of his favourite things and his Mondays…..

What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I am working on a number of fun things: The Seagull, an adaptation by Daniel Evans has just opened at QTC in which I am playing Medvedenko the painfully hopeful music teacher, I am just starting work for QTC on The Fledgelings, an adaptation of The Seagull for young people by Maxine Mellor, directing a project as part of the Youth and Education Program that will eventually be shared with a number of schools from SEQ who will also be sharing their interpretations of the work. As well as this David Megarrity and I are currently creating a version of Love and Information by Caryl Churchill for the first year students at QUT. But really the most exciting project at the moment is the impending arrival of Neridah Waters’ and my first child sometime late October early November.
 
Best gig to date?  Why?
That’s wayyyyy too hard to limit to one. Let’s see: I loved the La Boite Springboard readings that I did when I first graduated as it was my first paycheck as a professional and it introduced me to the rest of my contemporaries all at once (that week I met a number of longtime collaborators including Marcel Dorney, Bridget Boyle, Rob Kronk and Matthew Ryan – so thank you to Fraser Corfield for that). I adored DeBase’s Lovejunk by Robert Kronk because it was my first big indie show, it introduced me to another long time collaborator Louise Brehmer, had a live band onstage and was unapologetic in its aims to celebrate love and young people in Brisbane. I really loved Eating Ice-Cream With Your Eyes Closed by David Brown at QTC because it was theatre made expressly to try and appeal to the men who usually get dragged along to see things by partners or who wouldn’t think that it was something for them.
 
Attack of the Attacking Attackers! at La Boite holds a very special place in my heart as it was what started The Escapists, my company and was an amazing opportunity that Sean Mee gave to a group of young makers to create a main stage production to try and attract a new group of people to La Boite. They took such a risk letting us make a Sci-Fi/Horror Rock Eisteddfod Comedy, but it attracted an audience 40% of whom hadn’t been to La Boite before and were between 15 and 35 years of age. Finally I have to mention boy girl wall, not just because it has been such a big part of my life for over half a decade, has toured nationally, played at MTC and been Helpmann Nominated, but because of the crowd-funding event that we dreamed up to take the show to the USA. Thanks to the love and generosity of people and our plan to sell tickets to a fundraiser performance of the show as part of a Pozible campaign, we managed to raise in excess if $24,000.  The night we performed to a full house at Brisbane Powerhouse was electric from the start, but when the show finished and the houselights came on and I saw the people who had so kindly supported and loved the show from it’s inception at Metro Arts on, I was overcome with gratitude.
 
Favourite arts space in Queensland?
Again, a really difficult call. I have worked onstage and off at The Brisbane Powerhouse (in fact I did my graduation showcase there and my first main-stage QTC show, as well as working in front of house), they were big early supporters of The Escapists and I really loved World Theatre Festival. I have a massive soft spot for Metro Arts as it has been a space for theatre makers to be allowed to create on their terms and was the place where boy girl wall and Elephant Gun both had their first developmental steps. The Empire Theatre in Toowoomba (my old stomping ground) has always been a beautiful place to play with an amazingly supportive staff, their new venue is brilliant and the Brian Boak Bursary (of which I was a recipient) is one of the richest and best opportunities for an artist to fund further study. I’ve toured a lot with work including boy girl wall and Lala Parlour’s Tarnished and have a place in my heart for most of the arts spaces in Queensland – special mentions to The World in Charters Towers – love that building, The Gold Coast Arts Center (who have also been big supporters of my work) and COCA in Cairns.
 
Best YouTube clip for you at the moment?
I’m terrible with these things. It really depends on the day – during North by Northwest at MTC we spent a lot of time watching Parkour Fail videos of people doing monumentally stupid things and hurting themselves, during the Seagull BatDad and The Penguin with the Backpack have been popular.
 
Where would we find you on a Monday?
That is really varied. The last few months Mondays have started with teaching at QUT and once rehearsals started this was followed by a day at QTC. Now that the show is open there’s school’s matinees on Mondays (which means a 10.00am call after a one day weekend, but is worth it for this show), but once teaching this semester and this show are over Mondays could mean anything…(though once the kid arrives the plan is family time 24/7 for a few months).