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Tom Cardy sees the funny side of Wellington Sink or swim
Playwright and actor Jacqueline van Beek sat down to devise a play and fell in love with writing.
"where do you get your ideas from?"
It's the most predictable question to ask a playwright, but one that has to be put to Jacqueline van Beek after she describes her new play, The Swimming Lessons, which opened at Bats Theatre last night.
"It's a surreal comedy with songs and dances as well," says van Beek. "It's about a woman called Lizzie Leak who lives in a small town and she measures the river. Her mother is a Fruitarian and she's rotting to death. She's melting.
"And Lizzie is in love with this man called Bret Star, and she's been in love with him for 10 years and she finds out he's slept with every woman in town except her. Her sister arrives back from China where she's found their father who disappeared 18 years ago.
"In the end Lizzie becomes recognised as one of the world's top environmental scientists. We find out that she's a genius and not just a simple water level measurer."
Van Beek, 25, developed the play with Jodie Molloy, her cousin and fellow playwright Kathryn van Beek and with images from director Emma Willis. She's also one of its four stars.
But about those ideas ... "I came up with the idea of the water level measurer because my second cousin years ago got a job down in Canterbury through Student Job Search," she says. "He was just paid $10 an hour all summer. All he had to do was hang up a hammock by this river and take readings. He had all his mates down there drinking beers. I just thought it was the best job. It stayed in my mind for years."
Van Beek, who considers herself primarily an actor and performer, moved to Auckland three years ago, but grew up in Wellington. The former Onslow College student cites her puppeteer mother as one influence. Van Beek went straight on to the stage after leaving school at 17. One of her first performances was at Bats, in the black comedy Fold written by Jo Randerson. Van Beek has...
