Karen Lee Roberts is a creative Chameleon

Meet Karen Lee Roberts, creative, writer, performer, and visionary. Fresh off a Matilda Award win for Best Independent Production for a show she both wrote and performed in and a successful season at the Adelaide Fringe, the popular independent artist is pleased to present her musical cabaret ‘Chameleon’ for Brisbane audiences. A story of overcoming challenges to achieve not just wellness but success too, her collaboration with Dr. Jeff Usher is a powerful ode to mental health. Oh - and it’s a lot of fun too. We chat to her ahead of her performance at Redland Performing Arts Centre on April 23.

Tell us about the show, why did you make it?

I wanted to both entertain and educate the community at large on mental wellness and how I had achieved it. I have a lived experience of bi-polar disorder, and despite the odds of many challenges have risen above adversity to go on and maintain mental wellness and achieve great things in life. I lead a balanced and stable lifestyle through certain practices, and have proven that you can overcome anything with the right techniques in place. My journey is an inspiring and positive one, and I want to share hope with others through this cabaret.

What is the story behind the name of the show?

Dr Jeff Usher & Karen Lee Roberts on stage at Adelaide Fringe. Image + cover image supplied.

The show was originally called It’s Not Easy Being Green, to reflect how it isn’t easy to be different. When I was taking the cabaret to perform at the Butterfly Club in Melbourne, they said, it sounds too much like a show about veganism! So, I decided to change the name to one of the songs in the show, Chameleon. This mirrors the changing nature of mental health issues and traits of those experiencing them, like the way a chameleon changes its colours. I thought it appropriate, and it really suits the cabaret well.

How was you recent season in Adelaide Fringe? Any highlights?

The recent season at the Adelaide Fringe was amazing! We were so lucky to even be able to go forward with the shows, as many productions had to close due to lack of ticket sales. A sign of Covid. But we did really well and had lovely audiences. The highlight was having audience members come up to me after the show and comment on how much the cabaret had touched and meant to them, and how much they could relate. When I reach people like this, I know my message has really made its mark. It means so very much to me and brings me hope and joy.

indelabilityarts recently won a Matilda Award for Best Independent Production, a show which you both wrote and performed in, Wilbur the Optical Whale. What can you tell us about creating an award winning show that centres disability? Are audiences becoming more interested or more open to stories about disability?

Creating Wilbur the Optical Whale was an absolute joy! I had already written the children’s book and had it published through Amazon, and when indelabilityarts approached me saying they would like to develop it into a kid’s show, I was delighted and so excited!

I wrote under the dramaturgy of Elise Gregg, and the whole of the indelabilityarts team contributed to my ideas with concepts in rehearsals. The theme of difference and disability being portrayed is so important to me in that my art work always aims to convey social and emotional messages to my audience on prevalent topics.

Audiences certainly welcome performances centering around topics about disability more than they have in the past- people are open to learning and seeing the world from a different perspective. Wilbur teaches the important topic of bullying, and Chameleon centers around the widely experienced matter that is mental health, which in these times of Covid is more prevalent than ever.

Tell us a bit about your collaboration with Dr. Jeff Usher. How did you meet, and how do you work together as artists?

Karen and jeff outside their Adelaide Fringe 22 venue. Image supplied.

I was originally to perform Chameleon, when it was in its incarnation as It’s Not Easy Being Green, with a fellow named Damien Stuart. He was an amazing jazz pianist. His mental health was not very good, so he decided not to pursue the venture, and put me in touch with Jeff. It was a wonderful connection Sadly, Damien passed away from mental health issues a few years later. We dedicated the next performance to him and to all those struggling with their mental health.

Jeff and I feed off each other on stage. He supports me beautifully on keyboard with incidental music as I perform lines, and his interjections are comical, fitting and fit brilliantly into the show. We are like a well-oiled machine- though plenty of practice and knowing each other well.

Tell us something about Chameleon that audiences might find unexpected

For a show about a subject as serious as mental health/ mental wellness, Chameleon is quite light- hearted throughout. There are darker moments, and people do shed tears, but you will definitely get your fair share of belly laughs and giggles in this cabaret. It has been written to not take one’s self too seriously, and has some absolutely hilarious scenes unfold.

Check out Chameleon at Redland Performing Arts Centre on April 23, 2022.