Lauren Brady’s one-woman clown ballet piece SWAN? opened at Adelaide Fringe on Thursday, a raunchy twist on Swan Lake brought into the modern world. We managed to catch up with Lauren for a pixelated pint to discuss all things ‘becoming swan’, and to dive into the show’s themes and origins. Join us here in the Binge Fringe Digital Pub to find out more.

You can catch SWAN? at The Gallery at The Courtyard of Curiosities at the Migration Museum as part of Adelaide Fringe every day until the 2nd of March at 6:10pm (60mins). Tickets are available through the Adelaide Fringe Box Office.

Jake: Hi Lauren! In your Adelaide Fringe show you perform as a chain-smoking half-swan, half-ballerina who is desperately searching for something. Tell us about her and the process of becoming ‘swan’.

Lauren: Yes, Odette has been alive and kicking since her birth in 1877 in the classical ballet Swan Lake. She didn’t find her love back then, but she is hopeful that she might find her true love in the audience every night. She is a hopeless romantic and is slowly turning into more of a swan than a woman as time goes on…But she still knows how to turn a good look!

The show is rooted in Canadian Clowning and Neo-Bouffon, so the process of becoming the creature is based in mask work, impulse, and having a message to share with the audience. Putting on the make-up and the wig is a big ritual for me in becoming the creature. I say creature because clowns, to me and in my practice, aren’t humans; they are magical beings placed in this world to challenge our perspectives…

Jake: You describe the piece as a raunchy twist on Swan Lake – tell us a bit about the development of the show and how it’s come to end up at Adelaide Fringe.

Lauren: I grew up as a ballerina, and I have always loved Swan Lake. It is a show I have studied my whole life. The ballet has incredibly dark themes that still translate to today’s society, and as a woman, that frustrates me, so I wanted to create a show that addressed my frustrations in a highly comedic and playful way. It is also a 60-minute ballet show done on pointe, so it is incredibly taxing physically but still so much fun to do.

I saw the amazing Martin Dockery’s solo show back home on the Canadian Fringe circuit. The show was about his experience touring to the Adelaide Fringe. His story sounded exciting, and it inspired me to figure out how to bring my show here to see Adelaide for myself.

Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?

Lauren: I want everyone to have fun and be able to laugh at themselves and their perspective on romantic relationships. I also hope they walk away thinking how much they’d change for a romantic partner and why.

Jake: Now we’re in the throes of Adelaide Fringe, what are you most excited for?

Lauren: I am incredibly excited to be surrounded by theatre and comedy from all over the world. It is a huge gift to meet other creators and see works created from perspectives different from your own.

Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?

Lauren: oooo a bright blue bubble gum cocktail that is served with smoke. It would be deliciously sweet and terribly smoky.

You can catch SWAN? at The Gallery at The Courtyard of Curiosities at the Migration Museum as part of Adelaide Fringe every day until the 2nd of March at 6:10pm (60mins). Tickets are available through the Adelaide Fringe Box Office.