Millicent Sarre is Opinionated. Those who have seen her previous shows probably already know this, but it also happens to be the title of her new show. Following her award-winning show, Friendly Feminism For The Mild Mannered, and her collaboration with Cadence Belperio, Awkward Activists, Millicent will be premiering her newest work, Millicent Sarre is Opinionated, at this year’s Adelaide Fringe.
With another new show about to premiere, what sparks Millicent’s creativity when it comes to writing new material?
“Usually it’s me sitting bolt upright in the middle of the night and having to scramble to find some paper and not disturb my partner as I scribble down my ideas, and then trying to interpret them in the morning. I think it is usually just these sparks of inspiration that I can’t predict when they will come to me. I know that is such an artsy sounding statement, but it’s how it does happen. Often, I get to the end of writing a new show and go to myself “I don’t know where I could possibly get another 60 minutes of material from.” I feel like my creativity has dried up and I have nothing further to say. A little bit of time passes and I probably take a bit of time away from my writing and I fill my cup with spending time with people I love and performing work I haven’t written and that then gets me in the right headspace to go, “right, I have something to say – again!” and my creative juices will flow once more.”
Millicent has written shows both in collaboration with others and on her own. Does she have a preferred writing method, alone or with others?
“I think there are benefits to both formats. Writing Awkward Activists with Cadence was fantastic because our skill sets were so complimentary and they were able to do things musically and instrumentally that I wasn’t able to bring on my own. We were able to create something that had both of our perspectives, world views, and experiences. With my solo works, there is a lot more room for my personal experiences, my vulnerabilities and the aspects of my experiences that are quite raw to shine, which I think puts a bit of a human face to the social justice issues that I talk about. I think that’s something I really enjoy from writing solo is being able to let my authentic artistic voice really shine through in the work.”
Millicent Sarre Is Opinionated will delve into new themes that Millicent hasn’t previously ventured into in past shows, and it will entail more personal stories not yet heard by audiences.
“To some degree, I think the subject matter I’m going to touch on is a little bit – and I hate this word to describe myself – it’s a little bit edgy, a bit more gritty than what I’ve done before. I’m touching on themes that I haven’t dared really delve into before, such as female pleasure and masturbation, the gender wage gap as well the nitty gritty of body image and beauty standards and how patriarchal ideas and ideals of beauty really manifest themselves in women and have some really horrific consequences. I think as well as going into these really gritty themes, there are also a lot more of my personal experiences in this show than there has been previously. I had reserved my personal experiences for the emotional climax of Friendly Feminism, whereas from the get go with this show, it’s going to be very raw and honest. My narrative is going to be very evident from early on. I think that’s going to be scary for me. Whether it was intentional or not, I think it was a subconscious decision in my previous works to keep the topics that I talk about at a bit of an arm’s length, but in this show it’s going to be very up close and personal very quickly. There are a lot of very embarrassing stories about me that I’m divulging 10 minutes in. Being open about my experiences is going to be a big point of difference in this show.”
Millicent has a background in law, which when performing and presenting social justice issues in her works, certainly comes in handy.
“I agree, I think partially so I don’t feel like five years of law school and my HECS debt have gone to waste. But because I talk about social justice issues, you are always going to have the law adjacent to or underpinning those issues, whether that’s from a policy perspective or otherwise. I find it really helpful having my legal background inform my activism and social commentary in my cabaret work, especially when I touch on the gender wage gap and consent law. It’s really handy to understand that from a legal perspective and speak about it from an informed place.”
Millicent will be performing in Gluttony for the third year running.
“I get so giddy when I see the infrastructure being erected for Gluttony. The Gluttony community are absolutely fantastic. I have all the time in the world for the staff who have been so, so, so supportive of the artists in this very unpredictable time. Their transparency and their openness with us about everything they are doing to advocate for artists has been next level. It’s been very comforting when artists have been very stressed about everything.”
Millicent Sarre is Opinionated will be performed at The Lark, in Gluttony, 18 Feb – 6 March at 8.40pm. Tickets available through FringeTix or at https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/millicent-sarre-is-opinionated-af2022
Interview by Ben Stefanoff
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