Self Isolation Songbook (Feast Festival 2020)
Local artist Phi Theodoros will be well known to many Adelaide audiences through her performances at previous Adelaide Fringe Festivals, Feast Festivals, her events and community engagement through Storyteller: Multimedia Events and her advocacy for inclusion and building stronger communities. Always looking for opportunity in diverse places, you may have seen her pop up with her beloved ukulele and regale you with an original song.
Phi’s new show, Self Isolation Songbook, which is being staged as part of the Adelaide Feast Festival, is about the importance of maintaining connections during uncertain times. More poignant than ever, the subject matter is relevant and sure to be told with compassion and humour.
Phi joins Sam About Town (from a respectable social distance) to share with us some insights into the process of staging a show during these Covid times, the rollercoaster of changes and decisions over the last two weeks and more information about the show itself.
SAT: Thank you Phi for your time, especially during what has turned out to be a crazy couple of weeks here in Adelaide. Let’s begin on a practical note of sharing the details of how and when people can see your show.
PT: My show is available via livestream tonight from 8pm Adelaide Time (ACDT), you can book tickets via www.feast.org.au The in-person shows at Diverse-City have been postponed, I’ll be announcing the rescheduled dates via my social media pages in the coming weeks. The Livestream version of the show will be different to the in-person show so if you’re curious why not book to see both!
SAT: These last couple of weeks in terms of the Adelaide Covid ’circuit breaker’ lockdown have been very emotional and stressful, quickly changing and very uncertain. It must have sent your planning into a rollercoaster of changes and evolving decisions. Could you share with us a bit about that?
PT: The past weeks here in Adelaide have been pretty full on, I’ve made plans and then had to make them again to try find the best ways to still share this work I’ve spent months creating but in a way that people are more likely to engage in person. The show is about the importance of coming together and recognizing that screen time doesn’t equal quality time. It took a while, but I made the decision to just proceed as a livestream only and to postpone the in person shows. I was literally emailing Feast Festival and my venue Diverse-City when the announcement of the lockdown being lifted early came through just before I hit send. It was hard, but I committed to the choice I made to proceed with just a livestream this week. But this also meant I needed to re-write the show so it suited an ‘online only’ format. I’m really proud of what has come together in the past week and I’m so excited to share it with people all over the country tonight!
When I do share this show in person, I want it to be at a time when people can feel at ease being out in venues and engaging with live-in-person arts events. I felt that right now there is so much uncertainty that it just isn’t the right time for this show to be shared in person.
SAT: Of course, aside from these last two weeks, planning a show during the Covid uncertainty must have been challenging in itself. What was the process you undertook in planning and what sort of aspects did you have to take into consideration?
PT: The show concept actually began during the initial lockdown and has changed multiple times over the months since! Originally I wanted to create a downloadable songbook and teach people a list of cover songs that reflected on the pandemic, social distancing and what people were feeling. I’d started putting together charts when I realized the potential for copyright infringement with digital distribution of cover music. Then when FringeView was happening I thought why not write a digital cabaret show about it all, I had my first COVID test back in April during the last weekend I could have produced and uploaded the show and made a deal with myself that if I had COVID and wasn’t able to visit my parents that weekend I’d stay home and write it. Luckily for me the test was negative, but yet again the show went on hold. Then when the Feast Festival contacted me about registering the show I knew exactly what I wanted to share… but over the months between then and now the show has transformed so many times as new pandemic challenges and experiences came my way.
SAT: Can you share with us the varying emotions you have experienced during the planning and the subsequent forced changes. I know you would have been so excited to be performing live after so many months and can only imagine what a let down it would be.
PT: its been an emotional rollercoaster – this year has been challenging for everyone and that’s something I really wanted to capture with this story. Unfortunately that also meant I had to live through a lot of these challenges and the last couple weeks has kind of been the icing on the iso-baked-cake! I was really looking forward to performing a full show for the first time in person since Fringe. I’ve done a few livestream gigs but only two short gigs in person, the most recent one was the Saturday just before to our lockdown here in Adelaide.
The last 10 days have reminded me of the importance of holding onto hope, the hope and knowledge that we can and will get through these difficult times. The hope and knowledge that people do value the arts and see the importance in storytelling, the hope that audiences will be prepared to engage with stories in a myriad of ways. I’ve also been reminding myself that the in person shows are just postponed for now and tonight’s livestream performance is very a Circuit Breaker Special Edition!
SAT: It is often during the most challenging times, that communities unite, moments of kindness can make a difference and compassion is key. Can you share any heartwarming moments you have experienced during this rollercoaster of a ride?
PT: The show reflects on a lot of this, so I won’t give it away. But I do want to remind people of how 2020 began and how amazing the community response was to support those effected by the bushfires. We came together as a community and a country and that was incredible. Sadly, the pandemic has seen a lot of fear and division within our community so my biggest hope is that my audiences remember the importance of compassion and kindness and feel inspired to step outside of their own experience and learn from one another.
SAT: Self Isolation Songbook is a journey of connection, showcased through your original songs and poems. Could you tell us a bit more about your show give us some insights as to what we can expect?
PT: For those who have seen me perform in cabaret shows and variety nights over the past decade, you’ll hear some familiar songs reimagined within our new context alongside some new songs and poems and a couple special guests who are joining me to share songs that are really important to them too.
SAT: When creating your original songs, was it an easy process where everything just flowed, or did you have moments of writer’s block and creative non-inspiration? And what really inspired you to create these songs?
PT: I feel like most of the past 7-8 months have been a creative block for the Ukulele Dream Girl! I’ve been very fortunate to work throughout the pandemic, although it was from home in a tiny studio at my old house. During this time I was working so hard to stay creative and continue to offer digital creative experiences to many of the vulnerable communities I work with. It was very rewarding, but I was also genuinely worn out from the pandemic and all the extra screen time. Then there were a few other curveballs that 2020 threw my way and I progressively became more and more burnt out and my wellbeing was suffering significantly. This made it so hard to invest any energy into my own creative work, but this is all part of the process as many of us creatives know. Working through this sludge of ‘creative non-inspiration’ means that I’m even prouder of the work that I’ve developed and will be presenting to you all!
SAT: Is there a message you would like your audiences to take away with them?
PT: Life is precious, self care is not selfish but we are all collectively responsible for our individual and community wellbeing so lets work together to build a kinder more inclusive and loving society.
SAT: Thank you very much Phi and best of luck with your performance.
One show only!
Thurs 26th November 2020
Livestream Ticket $20
Buy tickets here
Facebook Event Link
