South Australian playwright and theatre creative Jamie Hornsby has quickly become one of the state’s most promising young playwrights, having won several notable awards for his works. Jamie is a graduate of the Adelaide College of the Arts (acting) and has toured metropolitan and regional SA with many productions.
As part of this year’s DreamBIG Children’s Festival, Jamie’s AWGIE Award-winning play Claire Della and the Moon, that he co-wrote with fellow SA playwright Ellen Graham, is being performed at the Goodwood Theatre and Studios.
Claire Della and the Moon is a tender and beautiful production with puppetry, music, striking visuals and poetic storytelling. In this production Claire and space dog Laika offers young audiences a metaphoric vocabulary to positively manage their own mental health.
Jamie recently caught up with me to discuss Claire Della and the Moon as well as what drew him into the world of script-writing.
“I think the thing that I love is the ‘bigger picture’ stuff. I started as a performer doing youth theatre and branched out from there. I always love inhabiting a role and being in a show, but I really do find something fulfilling in shaping the whole experience, both in terms of script writing and production design. I’m really looking now at how to shape the experience, before the audience has seen the show, in terms of the foyer – a real holistic approach to theatre creating. It’s also great because no one can stop me from writing. When you are in a show, you go to the audition and then you wait for the call with a yes or no, but with writing, I can just sit at home and create. I just love that.”
I asked Jamie if he has ‘pinch me’ moments about how quickly he’s been recognised for his work.
Absolutely! My first sort of ‘real play’ happened right out of drama school and that won Best New Work at the Newcastle Fringe and then won some Ruby awards and Young Playwright with State Theatre. I still can’t believe it. I think the biggest ‘pinch me’ was the David Williamson Award we won for Claire Della and The Moon.
For Claire Della and the Moon, Jamie has joined forces with the incredible Ellen Graham. Jamie shared with me where they drew their inspiration from for the creation of this special piece of theatre.
“It’s the play we both wish we saw when we were kids. It’s quite autobiographical in its emotional sense, even though neither of us have literally built a ladder and gone to the moon. Especially for Ellen, she was going through a hard time mentally and started drawing pictures to express how she felt. Those pictures were of a little girl who had built a ladder and was on the moon and was isolating. Originally Ellen wanted to turn that into a picture book, but as we were talking about it more we realised it was a play, and ran with it. The final work has not only touched us, but it seems to touch everyone who has contact with it, which is really wonderful.
“We did consult with a child psychologist when we were developing the show as we wanted to create a work that opened the doors to show children it’s ok to talk about how they feel. We had this sense that it could be a work that was very important with a strong message and we wanted to really get it right. Shaping the language and how ideas were framed were important to us.”
So far, Claire Della and the Moon has been extremely well received by audiences both young and old.
“It’s honestly just a wonderful feeling at how well this play has been received. I am constantly surprised at how much this play has resonated with people. I think of all the things I’ve written and all the things I’ve done, many of which I’m very proud of, this is the special one.”
Jamie shared a little insight as to what might be in store for Claire Della and the Moon after the DreamBIG Children’s Festival.
“We are planning on touring the show interstate and to other festivals and are looking at bringing the school touring version of the show back as well. We are currently re-building some of the set and props to make it more tour friendly.”
Claire Della and the Moon will be performed at the Goodwood Theatre and Studio on Sunday 20 May, 2023 at 2pm and 5pm.
Further information and tickets can be found at https://dreambig.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/claire-della-and-the-moon .
Interviewed by Ben Stefanoff
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