Jo Turnerworks as a director, writer, actor and dramaturg across a wide range of theatre. He is a graduate of Melbourne University (B.A./B.Comm) and the Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq. Recent writing for the stage includes: The Girl Who Glows (The Street); Ruby’s Wish (Belvoir); In a Heart Beat (Playlab, STC); Prison Songs (Darwin Festival); Max Remy Super Spy (ATYP), Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs (ATYP). Recent original works as director/devisor include: In The Face of It (NORPA); UBU EKZOTICA (Idiomatic Arts); Ruby and Cuthbert 2 (KXT); The Betoota Advocate Roadshow (TEG Dainty/NICE Events); Le Voyage (Steps and Holes); Ruby’s Wish (Belvoir/Arts Centre Melbourne/Sydney Opera House); Prison Songs (Darwin Festival); The Grief Parlour (Clockfire); Fools Island (STC); Darlingwood Tales (Opera House); The No Chance in Hell Hotel, Mademoiselle Fifi, Don’t Stare too Much! (Darlinghurst). Recent plays as Director include: Small Mouth Sounds, The Hypochondriac, Deathtrap (Eternity Playhouse). Puss in Boots (City Recital Hall). Avenue Q (Enmore); The Graduate, My First Time (Kay and McLean ); Peter and the Wolf (Opera House); Stolen (Workshop, STC Ed). Co- Winner – Phillip Parsons Fellowship 2017.
THE STREET TALKED TO JO BEFORE THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE GIRL WHO GLOWS.
WHY THE GIRL WHO GLOWS?
The show came about after an initial joyful creative collab with Zeeko on ‘Puss In Boots’. They then approached me to help make a narrative work with music as a creative driver. We read and chatted extensively about things that were concerning and fascinating us in the world. We felt we wanted to create a show for family audiences that was joyful and entertaining but about something important. For us, that something important became the question of what happens when adults avoid making difficult decisions that profoundly affect their children’s future. We were particularly moved by Phosphorescence by Julia Baird, in the way it reminded us to be in awe of nature. We discovered many Australian marsupials, somewhat inexplicably, glow in the dark. Our show became about an eight year old girl who also, somewhat inexplicably, glows in the dark and is asked to face up to a huge problem, that adults around her are ignoring.
WHAT DOES THIS WORK ILLUMINATE ABOUT OUR TIMES?
The work highlights the fact that we live in challenging ecological times and that we have, to a degree, turned our back on nature. We have forgotten to listen to it. No longer in awe of nature, it is easier for us to use it for our benefit. But what are we losing? And where are the voices of the future generations in these important decisions? Who is listening to them? Listening is an ever-diminishing skill, arguing is much more popular. The Girl Who Glows explores what happens when we stop listening and instead try to make people to do what we want.
TELL US ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING THIS NEW WORK FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES WITH ZEEKO.
Both Zeeko and myself share a sense of the playful and the ridiculous. Our funny bones are aligned. We also share the belief that the best way to illuminate or even educate is through humour. Everything in the creative process of writing music, writing words, creating story, character and meaning was infused with our sense of fun and play and this allowed us to drop into more serious or sensitive moments without getting too heavy or didactic. The process itself was quite unstructured but began with lots of talking and thinking and philosophical discussion – not always where you might start creating a show for young audiences… From there, a few story ideas were developed and a story spine was used to work out where those ideas fitted and what was missing. Music and lyrics were composed – sometimes together, sometimes separately – to serve the story that was developing. We improvised, recorded, edited and discussed and finally shaped a script over a couple of years of short bursts of creative development. Zeeko composed all the music, I wrote most of the script, and we shared writing lyrics.
HOW DO YOU WORK AS A DIRECTOR?
I like a positive, playful, goal-oriented rehearsal room, where every voice is heard but each voice needs to serve the work. I love to be excited by other artists energies, thoughts and ideas. They love the challenge of being able to articulate a vision for a show and work out whether an idea or offer belongs to the world of the show or not, and if not why? Each artist in the process will have a unique way of working and my job is to best serve them so that we’re all on the same page.
WHAT ARE YOUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR DIRECTION OF A NEW WORK?
Be true to the core of the story. Which can sometimes be hard to find in a new work. Sometimes you have to shape it a little (as long as you’re sure it’s not your own story that’s coming through) and sometimes you just have to keep listening to it, to hear what a new work is saying. At the same time, don’t treat it with too much reverence, that can kill it. It’s better to treat it like a work that has stood the test of time, you will trust it more.
WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS FOR WORKING WITH A CREATIVE TEAM?
I love working with people over multiple projects as you develop a short-hand and a way of working based on trust and mutual respect. But at the same time, it’s great meeting and working with new people. On this project I’ve worked with about half the creative team before, so it’s a nice mix. I’m most excited when a creative team member offers me an idea I’d never thought of, that totally fits with the flavour of the work.
Every time you work with a creative team is different and I enjoy responding to those differences. Some people want lots of guidance and some want to be left alone. Either way it’s a process of offering and listening and saying ‘yes’ to things that tickle your instincts and ‘yes and’ when they inspire something else in you.
WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON THE ROLE OF THEATRE IN SOCIETY AND IMPORTANCE TO CHILDREN?
Theatre is constantly in a process of dying – or so the story goes – and yet it survives. There is still nothing like the communal experience of sharing a powerful live event with a group of other people. There’s something fundamental about sharing stories in a dark room, that draws us back. We are hungry to know about ourselves, why we behave as we do, and what experiences we share with other people. Theatre serves this purpose still – to show us who we are. Intrinsic to this, it can suggest how we ought to be as well. What are the better/best versions of ourselves and this is where young audiences come in. Sharing our collective knowledge through story is a wonderful way to help children imagine a different future. Theatre has a responsibility to share as many voices as possible, and to allow everyone to see themselves. When we listen to other voices we grow.
WHAT KIND OF THEATRE DO YOU WANT TO MAKE?
I want to make theatre that is challenging, entertaining, playful, beautiful to look at and listen to. Theatre that laughs at itself and forces us to think at the same time.
WHAT’S INSPIRING YOU CREATIVELY AT THE MOMENT?
I’m watching a lot of dance and physical theatre on Insta and You Tube at the moment and finding lots of inspiration in that. The world currently feels very complex and sometimes words don’t seem enough and sometimes there are just too many competing voices yelling at once, so I’m finding meaning and joy through pure movement. My training at the Lecoq school taught me a deep respect for silence and movement and a mistrust of words, and I find myself coming back to those teachings when things feel overwhelming or complicated.
WHAT ARE YOU READING AND WATCHING CURRENTLY?
I’ve just finished a creative development on a new work called In the Face of It, which is about how humans respond to tragedy and in particular natural disasters. It’s being developed by the Northern Rivers Performing Arts (NORPA), taking the Lismore floods as a starting point. So as result I’ve been immersed in reading things about trauma and kindness. Specifically, I’ve been reading A Paradise in Hell, The Body Keeps the Score and The Kindness Revolution, as well as dozens of academic articles and personal stories (from Lismore and elsewhere) about kindness. There is a fear that in the face of great disasters humans won’t behave well and that we will devolve into a Mad Max like dystopia, but all the evidence suggests the exact opposite is true.
But I also love a good bit of TV and am currently watching Colin From Accounts, Eric and Austin to name a few.
My current bedside table read is a weird and wonderful collection of anecdotes and stories from Paris during German occupation called Paris Noir – The Secret History of A City. It was suggested for me by an Instagram I follow called @tomsbooks (Tom’s a ridiculously well read friend) and I love it because it reminds me of my time in Paris as a student, but it’s also pretty dark J So all in all I think I need to lighten up a little and find something more fun to read!
THE GIRL WHO GLOWS OPENS FOR A WORLD PREMIERE SEASON AT THE STREET FROM 18 JULY THROUGH 21 JULY.
STREET TALK 