Interview: Alaska

June 8

This week the Australian premiere of Alaska opens at the Blue Room theatre (Northbridge Cultural Quarter). It’s a contemporary play originating from England that explores racism in everyday society. In the lead up to the Alaska performance season, I had a Q and A session with one of the play’s cast members, Jeffrey Jay Fowler.

As an icebreaker, what can you tell us about Alaska?
Alaska is half comic, half dark. British racism and British humour at the same time. It focuses on a 24 year old university drop out working in a cinema. Though the play is largely touted as being about racism there’s a lot of other elements at play. Middle class guilt, the sexual attitudes of generation Y, religious righteousness and chain smoking all get their moment for analysis as well.

Your character is described as a seething racist. How do you prepare yourself to portray those traits in what is supposed to be a politically correct world?
‘Supposed to be’ is a pretty important part of that question. I don’t think the world is politically correct. Any weekend I go out I hear racist shouts across the streets of Perth. A lot of the people I meet in every day life will admit to being racist with just a little suggestion of the topic being ok. The play explores that too; the subtle racism ingrained in the way we view the world around us.

Preparing for this character isn’t too different from preparing for any other. I’ve played a nymphomaniac fairy god, a child stealing under taker, a 15 year old paraplegic surfer and the idea of thought itself. There’s always a huge gap between who I am and who I am playing. The director, Michelle Sowden, has a very different way of working character than any I have previously experienced. She has a very free way of creating, requiring a lot of actor impulse.

Alaska first premiered in the UK. Here in Australia we always like to think of ourselves as very accepting and multicultural… do you think Perth audiences will be able to personally relate to such explicit prejudice?
Someone told me there was a white supremacy concert to be held in Perth last Anzac day. That might give us a bit to think about. What I will say is that racism is a relevant topic here. It exists, whether it exists in outright violence or jokes told by people over a bar, imitations of accents and habits or hidden resentment behind people’s smiles.

The play specifically looks at the racism toward people of Indian and Pakistani origin who have moved to the UK. It also has a certain portion of the racism coming directly from a religious source, which perhaps isn’t as relevant to everyone in Perth. So while the specifics of the play are different, the argument it poses is very interesting. It’s not your typical “Racism is bad, okay?” kind of play. It certainly doesn’t condone racism though, don’t get me wrong.

I’ve heard the play may include gay themes?
There’s a grey area over a relationship between two male characters.

A racist who has a gay experience sounds like an interesting combination…
The writer, DC Moore, has put forward an interesting set of views. I’m not sure you could call it a ‘gay’ experience though. You’ll kind of have to see the play to see what I mean.

It’s not commonly thought about, but from being involved with Alaska, and your own personal experience, does racism have a place in the gay world?
I’ve witnessed incredible racism on the gay scene in Perth, violent incidents. Towards Asian people, Aboriginal people and Caucasian people. But then, I’ve witnessed that same violence away from the gay scene. I don’t think that on a broad scale there is any correlation between being GLBT and being racist. I just think racism is everywhere, unfortunately. But then, formless hate is everywhere too. You’d hope that people in the GLBT community would be more open minded, developed and respectful than to be racist.

So can we expect your character to learn a lesson in all of this?
Well that would give away the end of the play! You’ll have to see it for yourself.

Most gayrage readers aren’t frequent theatre-goers. What can you recommend to some one who isn’t familiar with the theatre, or is going for the first time?
Independent theatre in Perth is some of the best in the world. Only 12 international shows are accepted into the New York Fringe every year and this year four of them are from Perth. None are from anywhere else in Australia, and I really think that says something good. Places like The Blue Room and PICA are creating stuff for young, energetic audiences who would hate to go see a stuffy old remake of a script from last century.

On a more practical note: Be there 10 minutes early; no previews. Turn your phone off. And you don’t talk during the show. Also, unlike a cinema, you can’t leave once you’re in. For shows longer than 90 minutes there will be an interval. On top of that, be prepared to think and have an interesting night. You might not like every show you see, but there are some real gems out there that could change your way of thinking or even just give you a great night out. Every performance of a play is a unique experience that will never be repeated. Enjoy it.

Alaska opens Wednesday 10 June and continues until 27 June. Tickets $22 / $15 conc and can be booked via the Blue Room website.

Photography by Brad Serls.

Perthtainment Tags: entertainment, interviews, local artists, northbridge, theatre

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