Patrick Livesey Returns To Holden Street With NAOMI For 2022 Fringe

This Adelaide Fringe, Frank Ford award-winner Patrick Livesey (The Boy, George, Gone Girls, DIRT) returns with an original solo performance, Naomi, about the life of their late mum who died by suicide in 2015. In this world premiere directed by Bronwen Coleman (DIRT), Livesey uses verbatim interviews as the basis for this gripping, at times heartbreaking and surprisingly funny new play about love and mental illness.

The work began as a personal project for Livesey at the onset of the pandemic. Utilising people's sudden infinity with Zoom, Livesey, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, began interviewing Naomi's family and close friends about their memories of her life. This initial phase inspired several intense bursts of writing, culminating in a play that was then shortlisted for the Midsumma Queer Playwriting Award. Several drafts and public readings later and something wasn't quite right.

'What I was putting down on the page and the way the audience was receiving it was not convey-ing the feeling I got from having these conversations. Somewhere in the translation, the magic of that shared space, the act of remembering and reminiscing was being lost,' recalls Livesey.

It was a suggestion from Bronwen Coleman, director of last years DIRT by Angus Cameron, that changed the course of the entire project.

'Bronwen read one draft of what I'd written and basically said, 'yep, it's not working.' Brutal!' laughs Livesey.

'She asked whether I'd consider doing the play verbatim but knowing my history with drag and playing larger than life characters, my initial response was, 'no way.' I didn't want to be impersonating these people I knew so well or putting on different wigs or hats to try and portray them all.'

But having spent over a decade working in New York City, Coleman had witnessed a number of verbatim theatre pieces that avoided these gimmicks. In particular the work of Anna Deavere Smith and her documentary style of theatre. Coleman helped focus the project onto the simple question, 'how did this happen?' And with this in mind, Livesey set out to untangle 30-something hours of conversations and assemble them into what would ultimately become, Naomi.

'Because Naomi is drawn from interviews with real people, the text gives us so much gorgeous colour, humour and pathos,' says Coleman.

'It's incredibly powerful hearing these people wrestle with this massive event in their own words, and of course remarkable the way Pat is able to breathe life into each of them.'

Whilst the journey of writing this play has been difficult, its Livesey's sense of purpose that has pulled them through. 'When someone you love takes their life, it leaves you with so many unanswered questions and fears around what you didn't say or should have done. My hope is that in bringing this story to an audience, I can be of service to other people who have or might experience similar struggles. Above all else, I want to bear witness to my mum's life. She was the freakin' best and I want everyone to know it!'

Naomi will run from March 1-20 in The Studio at Holden Street Theatres, Hindmarsh.