Two absolute idiot characters bring-their-own pageant all over Australia, performing wherever they can
Laura Trenerry, who is the producer and one half of The Beryls is here today to chat about ‘The Paegent’. Laura is a character comedian who has been touring Australia and the globe with trio The Travelling Sisters since 2014.
Tell us about the show in 100 words or less
Beauty queen Victoria Beauvoir and her lifelong devotee Roger Seahorse are on a mission to bring children’s beauty pageants to every Australian town.
The Beryls present this narratively driven, immersive sketch show that casts the audience as contestants and pushy showbiz parents as they satirise the pageant world. Leave your name, age and gender identity at the door because The Pageant is a world unto itself.
Taking time-honoured character comedy and bending the form, The Pageant subverts Australian tropes set by the likes of Fast Forward and Kath &Kim by adding drag, camp and original songs and music to the mix.
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?
We are performing at Elements Collective, which is a hub venue. The entire set up of this space will be very DIY which suits the show perfectly - these two absolute idiot characters bring-their-own pageant all over Australia, performing wherever they can. We want the audience to feel like they have stumbled upon a makeshift pageant in Fortitude Valley… surely everybody’s dream.
What is your creative process like?
We improvise - a lot. Ell Sachs is our co-devisor and she throws different scenarios and provocations at us to play with in character. We keep on improvising and film what we do, then go back and keep the bits that make us laugh a lot. We often work in costume, as it’s fun to play in the disguise.
For this show we did a lot of pageant research, and improvised around things we wanted to explore. When we write our songs, it’s us jamming with cups of tea and trying to rhyme the most fun words together.
Tell us your origin story. How did your collaboration start?
We met at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba in 2009. Since then, we have been very good friends, constantly improvising and playing together. After finding ourselves having both moved to Melbourne, we decided to put our brains and ridiculousness together to create a full show, along with Ell Sachs as our co-collaborator - who we also met at uni!
Who is your perfect audience member? Who is going to LOVE this event?
Our perfect audience member is somebody who laughs at very silly things, and who wants to be a part of the fun. If you love the idea of prancing around the stage as a 5-year-old beauty queen, or watching your friends do this - you are going to have a very good time at The Pageant. If you’re a bit of a Priscilla, Kath & Kim or Strictly Ballroom fan - come.
Is there anything else we simply MUST know about the show?
This show is the lovechild of three artists who have been doing many wonderful things before deciding to make a show baby together. Laura and Ell are part of character comedy trio The Travelling Sisters - who started their careers at Anywhere Festival. Hailed as “geniuses of sketch comedy” they have a galaxy of awards and five and four star reviews which they routinely collect when performing nationally and internationally.
You may recognise Patrick from mainstage theatre productions for Queensland Theatre Company, DeBase Theatre, Metro Arts and at Laboite Indie and the Woodford Fire Festival Fire Event.
The Pageant takes place as part of Anywhere Festival in Ipswich on 19 May at the Banshee Bar and in Brisbane 21 & 23 May at Elements Collective.
