Audiences will experience the camaraderie of sharing in stories and music around the campfire

Meet Anina-Marie Warrener from Campfire Cabaret: The Legend of Deirdre. She is the creative producer for Etch Events. Anina-Marie is a proud jack of all creative trades and has worked as a writer, composer, singer, actor, director, and producer.

Tell us about the show in 100 words or less

Deirdre is a beautiful young woman with a doomed destiny. According to a druid’s prophecy, she is destined to destroy the warriors of King Connor’s court.

The show features twelve new original songs from Brisbane-based songwriter, Anina-Marie Warrener, as she reimagines the classic Deirdre of the Sorrows as a modern-day feminist icon.

In the style of traditional folk tales told long after dark by the fire Blathnaid (Anina-Marie Warrener), Deirdre (Chloe Boike), Naoise (Izaac Cornish) and Connor (Tomer Dimanstein) immerse audiences in this ancient folklore experience with a contemporary twist.

Tossed and torn between the wants of men, will Deirdre find freedom?

Anywhere Festival takes place anywhere but a theatre. Tell us about your venue. What is it about your space that adds to your audience experience?

When I was growing up in South Africa, it was second nature for musical instruments to come out around the campfire late at night. Everyone would sit around the fire and play and sing together. With this show, I really wanted to recreate this campfire atmosphere. That is why Campfire Cabaret: The Legend of Deirdre will play outdoors on the grass at UQ St Lucia’s Great Court. I really want audiences to experience the camaraderie of sharing in stories and music around the campfire. These are some of my fondest memories growing up and I firmly believe that this is storytelling, theatre in its original form; just friends sharing tales around the fire.

What is your creative process like?

Working on Campfire Cabaret: The Legend of Deirdre has been an entirely collaborative process. I wrote all the songs and the script prior to getting stuck into rehearsals but I love to work with a dedicated team to fine tune everything. That is the great thing about working with a new script with twelve original songs, everything is adaptable and malleable. We have full creative control. The collaborative creative process is so important in producing something that is unique and poignant, so I have loved working with my wonderful cast (Chloe Boike, Izaac Cornish and Tomer Dimanstein) and trusty sidekick, Clarise Ooi, to mould the material to the story we visualise in our collective imaginations.  

Tell us your origin story. How did your show start?

Dierdre played by Chloe Boike. Image + cover image: Hannah Boike

I have been writing music since I was twelve years old when I first immigrated from South Africa to Australia. Music became this outlet point for coping with my own displacement and sense of unbelonging. I’ve always felt in-between, both Australian and not. I graduate from a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama) from the Queensland University of Technology in 2014 and then for a little while I pursued a non-creative career in events management. But just as it always has been, music remained this ever-present force in my life, something that I mainly did in my bedroom behind closed doors. If I had to guess, I would say I have written over 300 songs in my lifetime – most of them will never be heard. But in 2018, I reached a crossroads where I realised that I had an important story to tell, that I had something to say and that I wanted to use my music and theatre to do so. So I wrote a feminist musical – Mettle, Moxie & Melody – with 15 original songs and produced the show for Anywhere Festival 2019. Campfire Cabaret: The Legend of Deirdre will be my second Anywhere Festival production and I am so proud to be able to explore another feminist story through the lens of traditional folklore.

Who is your perfect audience member? Who is going to LOVE this event?

Campfire Cabaret: The Legend of Deirdre is perfect for: Readers and listeners of folklore tales and fantasy, lovers of the casual Australian outdoors, stargazers and campers, hopeless romantics and feminists!

Is there anything else we simply MUST know about the show?

You will fall in love with the four characters! Campfire Cabaret: The Legend of Deirdre features an evil King (Tomer Dimanstein), a starry-eyed warrior (Izaac Cornish), a strong-willed heroine (Chloe Boike) and a feminist witch (Anina-Marie Warrener).

Campfire Cabaret: The Legend of Deirdre takes place as part of Anywhere Festival on the 19 – 22 May 2021
at UQ St Lucia Great Court.