We sat down with Marie talking about her show Madonna On The Rocks.
Thank you for chatting with A Young(ish) Perspective! Introduce us to who you are and what you’re doing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year?
I’m a writer and theatre maker and this year I’m bringing my first solo show, Madonna On The Rocks to Assembly Roxy.
A Youngish Perspective platforms accessible arts and champions the huge scope of different perspectives – can you tell us about the show you’re taking to Edinburgh Festival Fringe as if you’re flyering to both a young first-time-Fringe goer and a festival veteran returning every year?
It’s dark and very funny, with some amazing music I made in Berlin with Cameron Macintosh award winning composer Ben Osborn and Madeline Shann.
It’s about making art when the world is on fire, about trying to be a semi-decent parent and also a semi-decent artist. It’s about love, rage, mothers and daughters and generational self sacrifice. It’ll make you laugh, cry and ready to go out and make the world a better place.
And it’s also a lot of fun.
Madonna On The Rocks tells the story of creative expression and ambition after motherhood, what perspective has being a mother given you that influences the way you now create?
It’s pushed me to work much harder, and as I don’t have as much time the work I make has got to be worth it.
It’s also forced me to just crack on and get stuff done, which as a procrastinating perfectionist has been extremely good for me.
Themes of depression and anxiety are sound tracked to the likes of Madonna and Nina Simone, how does the music throughout the piece inform the experience of seeing Madonna On The Rocks?
It’s a big part of it. I’m a straight theatre maker by trade and I used to be a real snob about musicals (mainly from not knowing much about them outside of big West End shows) but somehow I’ve now ended up making two!
It’s not really a musical, maybe more of a cabaret but within a play, but the songs allow us to go to really different worlds- Berlin techno, dark bluesy jazz, power pop, and extreme emotional places which in a song can be unsettling in the best ways, and exciting and fun.
Everything’s better with some big bass under it.
Who would your surprise dream audience member be?
Oooh… Madonna, Queen of Pop herself? And all her 75 children.