Flinders at the Fringe: Home Thoughts with James Watson
James Watson Photographed by Pamo Boutros.
Did you know that when you read the Fringe guide this year, you may just see some of your peers and Flinders alumni scattered throughout? One of these goal-kicking graduates, and former editor of ET is James Watson. James graduated in 2019 studying a BCA in Creative Writing, he is now an award winning play-write and the creative director/producer of Famous Last Words, a new, independent creative company. James’ newest show Home Thoughts is an Adelaide-centric piece of work that explores differing relationships with our city. It would come as no surprise that many of you reading this have experienced a predicament that Adelaidians know all too well, feeling a pressure and desire to leave, while savoring the familiarity and comfort that a small city like ours provides. In this interview with James we dive into his relationship with Adelaide, and what drove him to work on a project with subject matter so specific to the Adelaide experience.
How the heck did you get from the student-life, to putting on a show with one of the most well-known arts festivals in the country?
This isn’t my first time producing for the Fringe. I actually created a show straight out of highschool called Empty Vanity, which premiered in my second week at Flinders. In the five years since EV I’ve wanted to return to the Fringe, but the timing’s never felt quite right for various reasons. When playing with the idea of Home Thoughts, I realised pretty early on that it’d make a good Fringe production; it’s size, content, and logistics are well suited to smaller venues and local audiences. A great thing about Fringe is its accessibility for artists. I’d like to see more local work produced in the festival, to really show off what SA artists can achieve. I was fortunate enough to get a small project grant from NIDA (where I’m currently finishing a masters’), which got a bulk of the production off the ground.
Your show discusses living in Adelaide, what do you love about getting to create here in our city?
It’s really great to be home. I missed Adelaide a lot while I was in Sydney studying at NIDA. The familiarity makes putting on a show like this much easier; with venues, marketing, other collaborators… there’s relationships here that we can utilise and grow. Ultimately, there’s people I know I can rely on here. For a show like Home Thoughts that’s set in Adelaide, I think being able to go to the places the characters visit is incredibly helpful. I don’t know how this play might go if we were producing it interstate or overseas. There’s references, a shared language, that you can’t get outside of Adelaide. I actually wrote a bulk of the script while in hotel quarantine overlooking Pulteney street in the city. I don’t think the text would have the same level of authenticity had it not been written here. All members of the creative team are from SA, and I love being able to share our expertise and experiences while creating Home Thoughts.
Do you feel that there is pressure as a creative to move to the larger cities like Melbourne? How do you respond to this pressure?
Absolutely, there’s a massive pressure, especially with limited public funding - not just in Adelaide but across the country. As creatives we are often pushed to create opportunities to show the art, not just make it. Meaning that there’s a growing hunger and competition for the means to do so. I don’t know if this is a healthy atmosphere that’s being fostered. Why can’t I stay in Adelaide and produce three or four shows a year? People always view that as an unrealistic expectation, but I don’t believe it should be.
In many ways I think there’s a sense of Adelaide always missing out, that the excitement is elsewhere. Even in the Fringe, and especially outside of it. I think it’s necessary for any artist to move away for a time; by nature we’re explorers. Given the way arts degrees are being hammered by institutions and the government in SA, aspiring creatives are also forced to look interstate to get qualifications. I couldn’t do the masters’ I wanted in SA, so I had to move. We’re seeing this more and more in the arts. I believe in 10-20 years we’ll have a severe drought of theatre makers in SA if they’re not studying here.
Venues are also an endangered species here. The Bakehouse Theatre, where we’re performing, has been an accessible independent theatre venue for decades. Now it’s closing after the Fringe (I think it will be turned into a carpark). Sydney and Melbourne have an abundance of smaller venues like this that feed into a wider ecosystem. If we do another Fringe show in 2023, it’s going to be harder to find a space in which to do so. But I’d love to keep producing work with our new company, Famous Last Words, in SA over the next few years.
I’ve heard that the characters in your play question what home means, so I’m wondering; what does home mean to you?
That’s a difficult question. I think it’s something that’s always being interrogated in my life. I love Adelaide, but at the same time I feel a level of discomfort with its familiarity at times. It’s a contradiction. Can I live here while still growing and changing as a human being? I don’t know.
Has being a part of this show changed the way you think about Adelaide in any way?
I’d like to think I’ve learned to calm down a little bit. This time last year the idea of returning to Adelaide filled me with dread, and I overlooked all the things I like about this place. It’s a beautiful city. And frankly SA makes the best wine in the world. I’m trying to learn to be okay with myself. The more I do, the more I’ve ended up being okay with waking up in Adelaide every morning.
The performance compares the different journeys of two siblings. Being in an industry with so many different avenues, how would you respond to people who feel there is a set path you must follow to become a successful creative?
How do we judge ‘artistic success’? That's going to be different for everyone, and what works for one person won’t necessarily be applicable to someone else doing the exact same thing. I often find that people who aren’t in the arts are going to think they know better. Because their opinion on art and it’s enjoyment is subjective, they’re going to believe that their opinion on how to make it is just as valid. People study and practice for years, only to have some family member at Christmas who knows jack-all about theatre say “Yeah just make something really popular like Hamilton”. Fuck off.
What have the biggest obstacles been in getting ready to put on this show?
Covid. That’s making things feel very uncertain for everyone. There seems to be a great degree of caution in the air - no one is promising everything. Of course that harms ticket sales, and certainly makes the logistics of production more complicated.
But overall, the rest of the creative team are so incredible that many obstacles can be avoided. Our designer, Ruby, was able to apply her craft to an incredible set concept. Our actors, Ren and Krystal, bring a wonderful energy and commitment to every rehearsal. Their understanding of the characters is amazing - the script is only a fraction of what we’ll see on stage. Everyone in the creative team takes a massive load off my shoulders.
What words of encouragement do you have for current students who are feeling nervous or overwhelmed about a creative project?
Nick Prescott, I think, summed it up well by paraphrasing Neil Gaiman in a lecture once: “Make good art.” These things have a way of revealing themselves when the time is right. Be patient, dare to fail, find collaborators, connect with different types of mentors, and take care of yourself.
Home Thoughts opens on the 28th of February at Bakehouse Theatre and runs until the 5th of March. Get your tickets now at https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/home-thoughts-af2022 and support your creative community!
EDITORIAL NOTE: This article has been reuploaded and was originally published in 2022.