Ash Flanders is well known in Australian theatre, having made his name alongside creative writing partner Declan Greene, as one half of the renowned Sisters Grimm. Productions such as Summertime in the Garden of Eden, Calpurnia Descending and Lilith: The Jungle Girl have all earning critical praise.
Flanders’s latest and somewhat autobiographical show, End Of. sees the actor swapping theatre for the corporate world, where he spends his hours at a computer terminal. Now a legal transcriptionist, he transcribes the narratives of suspected criminals, leading the actor to reflect on his own life and the choices he’s made.
Ash Flanders Photo credit: Brett Boardman
“Let’s just say that when it comes to playing Ash Flanders, I’m in the top fifty percent of actors available at this fee!” he says.
“Everything in End Of. is true but the Ash you meet is a snarkier, more vulnerable and, most importantly, better-lit version of me. It’s a noxious blend of storytelling, stand-up comedy, and theatre”.
“It’s intimate, like sex, so it hurts even more if I look out and they’re asleep!”
The one-man show theme is not unusual for Flanders, having previously starred in Playing To Win, Meme Girls, Special Victim, SS Metaphor and Buyer and Cellar.
“It takes a certain kind of masochistic egomania to do solo shows,” says Flanders.
“Luckily my parents made me the perfect mix of needy and delusional. In a solo show the audience becomes everything to you, they’re the only other force you’re working with, so the relationship becomes much more intense. It’s intimate, like sex, so it hurts even more if I look out and they’re asleep! But to be fair, that’s never happened with End Of., just during actual sex!”
Ash Flanders Photo credit: Brett Boardman
In the progression of End Of. Flanders discovers that his choices have all narrowed down to the one thing, which is to make people laugh. But in doing so, he realises the toughest audience has been one Heather Flanders – his mother.
“An effeminate gay guy with mother issues, how ground-breaking!”
“I know,” says the actor.
“An effeminate gay guy with mother issues, how ground-breaking!”
“One of my goals was to capture her, so she could live forever in the minds of people who see the show, like a chain-smoking foulmouthed tumour! But to be honest, a large message in the show is that since time is short, the stories we leave with people are all that lives on. I also hope people learn that taking LSD for the first time, in an underground car park that you’ve illegally locked yourself into at midnight, is never a good idea!”
Ash Flanders Photo credit: Brett Boardman
Directed by Stephen Nicolazzo (Looking For Alibrandi/ Still Here), End Of. brilliantly showcases the writing and comic talent of Flanders. His creative partner, Declan Greene, describes the actor as the youngest grand old dame of the Australian stage, who can bring an audience to side-splitting laughter with the raise of an eyebrow.
“The best comedy comes from people being honest about themselves,” says Flanders.
“Since making people laugh means so much to me, which is something the show questions because only maniacs have this impulse, the honesty is non-negotiable. I want the audience to trust me and so I have to trust them. I hope they laugh, forget their own worries, then leave the theatre thinking about the people they love and their own stories. But I really hope they buy me a drink and tell me they’re coming back again, with more friends!”
End Of. plays from 13 Oct at the SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross
For more: griffintheatre.com.au
