Shake & Stir Theatre Co’s powerful, must-see stage adaptation of Fourteen, the inspirational true story by best-selling author and award-winning journalist Shannon Molloy, will make its Adelaide debut at Adelaide Festival Centre’s Dunstan Playhouse this week.
Fourteen is an equal-parts uplifting and heart-wrenching account of Shannon’s experience growing up gay in regional Queensland at an all-boys rugby-mad Catholic school: the bullying, torment and betrayal as well as the moments of resilience, love and hilarity that punctuated his 14th year.
Shannon has worked in some of Australia’s biggest newsrooms, and his debut memoir Fourteen was long listed for an ABIA Award as well as appearing on multiple best-seller lists.
Shannon spoke to Glam Adelaide and shared where his love of writing and storytelling came from.
“I’ve always had a strong interest in writing right from a young age. There aren’t any writers in my family, but my mum, when I was about five, brought home an old black and red typewriter that she’d found at a flea market and gave it to me. That instantly became my favourite toy out of everything else. I started writing a little neighbourhood newspaper called the Arthur Street Chronicle that I would photocopy at the newsagent and then put in the 30 or so mailboxes along Arthur Street. I would interview neighbours and business owners and things like that. It was a bizarre little thing that I loved to do and that’s kind of where it all began for me.”
We asked Shannon how important it was for him to share his personal story.
“It was really important for me to get my story written down. I used to be a journalist who thought that I wasn’t the story and I should never be the story – all a reader should know about me is my byline and that’s all. I wrote an opinion piece in 2016 telling a little story from Fourteen about this horrible day at school where I was on the brink and something awful happened and how I went home and almost did something really silly and tragic. The response to it was just so phenomenal, not just from the public but from half a dozen or so mums of boys like me who hadn’t survived that kind of day, who’d had taken their own lives. They all encouraged me to keep talking, because talking about these things is a way of starting a dialogue but also showing people, young or old, that it gets better and that pushing on is really important. That opened my eyes to the power of storytelling and telling my story. So a few years later I started writing Fourteen and now here we are.”
Shannon also hoped that by sharing his story, it would start an ongoing narrative and show people who may have or are currently experiencing similar situations to what he did, that it’s ok to speak up and let your voice be heard.
“Fourteen isn’t just my story; it’s so many people’s story. While my story took place in the late 90s, it’s a story that’s still happening today. I hear from kids all the time – and not just in the regions but in the big cities too – that they see parts of themselves in my story, which is really sad. I think we’ve come a long way, but there are still many things we need to do to ensure all young people feel safe and included at school and in society more broadly. I think the more we talk about it the more aware we are of where those failings are and we can do something about them. We’ve had a lot of school groups come in and I think any young person sitting in the audience seeing a story like this will hopefully leave realising how powerful our words can be.”
Shannon shared with us his involvement in the process of transferring Fourteen from a memoir to the stage.
“I was very lucky to work with the production company behind the stage show, Shake & Stir Theatre Co. They were extremely generous with me being involved and allowing me in the room at really critical parts of the adaptation. I of course had no idea what I was doing. I love theatre and I see a lot of it but I couldn’t tell you how to begin to take a book and turn it into a production. So that in itself was really cool, being able to just see the process so intimately and be in rooms where audiences don’t get to go. A lot of the dialogue on stage comes straight from the book. There are about 20 songs from the late 90s throughout this show – songs that I reference in the book. Even some of the choreography that I detailed in the book has made it onto stage. If you’ve read the book, it will feel like it’s come to life in a really enjoyable way. I think we all have a favourite book that’s been butchered on a TV screen or on the stage. This is not one of those. But if you haven’t read the book, that doesn’t matter because it’s just such a fantastic story on its own.”
In 2022, Fourteen played a sold-out world premiere season as part of the Brisbane Festival and quickly became a festival favourite for audiences and reviewers. Now it’s Adelaide’s turn to see this powerful piece of theatre.
“It’s obviously a show with some harrowing themes, there’s no denying that, but I think what will surprise people is how uplifting, funny and hopeful it is as well. The producers have done a great job of balancing the dark with with light, so there are some moments that are quite impactful but then the next minute you’re dancing in your seat to a Shania Twain song or you’re laughing about a backyard teenage house party with bags of goon and that sort of thing.”
Fourteen will be playing at Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre from 7 August – 10 August.
https://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/fourteen
Header photo credit: Joel Devereux
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