After an award-winning international tour, New York feminist comic Adrienne Truscott brings her hit show Masterclass, a collaboration with Brokentalkers, back to Ireland this month. A parody of the “great male artist”, the show examines topics ranging from gender to power, uncovering some difficult truths about privilege along the way.
The last thing I saw and loved…was a bird fitting effortlessly into a hole in a birdhouse.
The book I keep coming back to… Susan Sontag’s Notes on Camp or anything by Joan Didion or Octavia Butler.
I find inspiration in… accidents, bad ideas and ridiculous men.
My favourite film is… one of my favourite films is Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or anything by Laura Poitras.
My career highlight is… either playing at the Sydney Opera House or CBGB (a music club in New York City). Both iconic and places I’d only heard and read about and never imagined, as a young’un, actually being at, let alone performing in.
The song I listen to to get in the zone is… right now it is Miley Cyrus’s Flowers. Any four to the floor good pop usually does it. Or something by Bikini Kill. I suppose it depends on which zone I need to be in.
The last piece of work I recommended is… I’ve been too busy to make it to a museum or gallery or theatr eor cinema so I’m going to just say that I’m grateful for season three of Hacks.
I never leave the house without… my jean jacket. The one with pockets everywhere like a fishing vest.
The book I still think about is… Just Kids by Patti Smith, and, not surprisingly, seeing her live (in Melbourne).
My dream role would be… federal housing czar. The housing crisis in the US makes me genuinely crazy and sad and I would like to attempt to solve it.
The best advice I’ve ever gotten… “Don’t be ahead of the curve and wear pants. ” This is fantasy advice I wish someone had given me.
The art that means the most to me is… I love the photography book The Drag Explosion by Linda Simpson. It chronicles a seminal era in NYC. The Guerilla Girls work. I love the work of Radiohole, Half-Straddle, Figs in Wigs.
My favourite moment in this show is… every moment I’m on stage with Feidlim! The show has slightly different possibilities every night and we have a really deep trust in each other out there, so that show is the same and a little different every night. The parts where he exposes real habits about my work and process to me and the audience are hilarious to me.
The most challenging thing about being on stage is… funding. This is a very boring and American answer. I don’t think there is anything challenging to actually being on stage – that feels like an incredibly exciting, dangerous, playful place. The hustle it takes to stay on stage or have access to it is exhausting.
After a performance, I… like to have a drink standing up. I don’t really like to sit down afterwards. I have too much energy and adrenaline.
If I wasn’t in theatre, I would be… a really nice grifter. Or a race car driver. Or someone in charge of caring for baby gorillas, obviously.
The magic of theatre to me is… the context of theatre makes almost any behaviour potentially acceptable in a way no other space (especially a workspace) allows. That said, this freedom should be approached with vigour and thoughtfulness.
Masterclass will run at venues in Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Sligo, Drogheda and Cork. Find out more info and book your tickets here. Imagery courtesy of Adrienne Truscott.
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