‘Removable Objects’ will leave you re-considering your literal and metaphorical place in the world

Matthew James French, the creator and performer of the show, is an emerging Brisbane based actor and musician who is here to tell us about ‘Removable Objects: A Series of Vignettes.

Tell us about the show in 100 words or less

It’s is a non-linear one-man-show of multiple characters and music, exploring place and identity across two Polish families and the span of 60 years. The story is based on the writer and performer’s Polish grandmother and her move to Australia after World War II. It is the creator’s fourth one-man-show and first full length play.

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?

The Sideshow is easily accessible from West End, a cultural hub in of itself. The venue has an open but intimate feel with a layout that allows the performer to sneakily appear at different places of the venue, which is part of the performance.

What is your creative process like?

I like to create a collection of stimulus and inspiration that I know leads or feeds into an idea. I create lists of tasks to do like skills or accents to learn, write large chunks of material to whittle down, and see how I can connect different disciplines. For example, this show had a theme of location and its connection to identity, so I wrote a fictional national anthem, inspired by Irish music my father plays. This led to learning how to program MIDI instruments so I could have orchestral instruments on a budget. Because I am the writer/performer/director, I have more creative control and freedom to pursue ideas that aren’t fully formed. Sometimes written work becomes music or vice-versa. I also like to draw on previous work or elements I have done, such is playing live diegetic music, which I did in ‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ in 2015.

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

I have been musician for the last 15 years and actor for the last seven years. After studying acting at university, I pursued film roles and writing original work for stage. This show started years ago as a stream of consciousness monologue about a distraught New York man in a writing workshop. That got me thinking of another location-focussed monologue for a character based on my Polish grandmother and the show developed from there. I wanted the challenge of playing multiple characters with different accents, and writing a full-length play. I was fortunate that the themes of this play align with the Anywhere Theatre Festival.

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

This performance is for those who enjoy variety, music, tense moments, poetic language, and a story that is realistic and fantastical all at once. I want young writers and performers to see this as a nudge to make their own work, as a now close friend’s one-man-show years ago gave me the confidence to try this for myself one day.

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

‘Removable Objects: A Series of Vignettes’ will leave you humming a tune, re-considering your literal and metaphorical place in the world, and leave you with an ending that will make you want to tell your mum you love her; all in under an hour.

‘Removable Objects: A Series of Vignettes’ shows as part of Anywhere Festival on May 7, 8, 9, 16, 21
at The Sideshow.