Twelve years in the making, wild and funny until it’s not, THE  GIRL/THE  WOMAN, is an exhilarating two-woman collision of body and mind, desire and tradition, language and visionary theatricality.

The Girl trips over her sexuality and lands on her mother's traditions. She turns to her best friend and enabler - the Internet. Her mother, The Woman, meanwhile, hates to leave the house - a tiring but familiar refuge from an ever-changing outside world. She spends her days listening to Al Jazeera. She left Lebanon for a reason but was this really the new life she imagined for herself?

THE  GIRL/THE  WOMAN is playing at Riverside Theatres from Thursday 28th June and Sydney Arts Guide had a chance to interview the playwright, Aanisa Vylet ahead of the opening.

SAG: Thank  you  for  speaking  with  our  readers.    Your  work,  THE  GIRL/THE  WOMAN  is  coming  to   Riverside  Theatres.    THE  GIRL  is  a work  that  has  been  seen  and  applauded  previously.    THE   WOMAN  is  new.    What  made  you  want  to  produce  them  side  by  side?    

Aanisa:   The  GIRL  was  developed  over  a  much  longer  period  of  time.  I  never  had  this  sensation  that  it   was  “finished”.  I  knew  there  was  more  to  the  story  –  a  companion  piece.  So  I  embarked  on   creating  The  WOMAN. 

I  did  this  via  the  Belvoir  Artist  Program  and  The  Joan  Sutherland   Breakthrough  Artist  Award.  What  I  found  was  that  –  They  are  actually  the  two  parts  of  the   same  play…   The  story  told  through  The  Girl/The  Woman  is  a  result  of  me  digging  through  my  personal   life  to  find  the  universal.  It  took  time  to  grow…both  plays  have  taught  me  so  much.  They  are   works  that  now  separate  to  me.  

The  world  created  in  the  work  is  shared  through  a  playful   theatrical  lens…it  is  the  wild  and  vulnerable  side  of  the  female  psyche.  I  found  at  one  point   that  I  needed  to  heal  my  body,  as  a  woman,  before  sharing  The  Woman.  The  Girl/The   Woman  is  play  that  has  told  me  what  it  needs  to  grow.      

SAG:  Has  putting  the  two  plays  in  proximity  to  each  other  changed  them?

Aanisa:  They  have  now  become  the  one  play…  The  Girl  has  more  depth  due  to  The  Woman.  It  is  now  grounded  in  more  truth.  

Originally  the   character  had  a  high  pitched  voice  and  she  now  has  a  more  grounded  lower  register.  We   have  realised  now  that  even  though  she  comes  into  her  body  during  this  play,  she  is  yet  to   truly  come  into  her  voice  (that  is  another  piece  of  work  waiting  on  the  horizon.)  

The  Woman   has  now  lightened  up  as  a  consequence  of  preceding  The  Girl…We  deal  with  heavier   material  in  that  part  of  the  play  and  luckily  the  whimsical  world  of  The  Girl  helped  us  find   comedy  in  tragedy…

SAG:  Sounds like putting the two together has further deepened the work.  I  love  the style  of  your  THE  WOMAN  director,  Dino  Dimitriadis,  METAMORPHOSES  was  of   my  faves  last  year.    Does  his  complex visual  aesthetic  and  his  relationship  with  yourself  as   both  writer  and  performer  enhance  the  theatricality  of  what  audiences  will  experience?  Your  media  release  suggests  that  THE  GIRL/THE  WOMAN  will  be  less  than  naturalistic  in   presentation.

Aanisa:        Dino  is  a  very  brave  artist  who  is  armed  with  a  visual  theatre  eye.  His  vision  certainly  helped   enhance  the  world  created  throughout  the  play.  We  do  not  rely  on  naturalism.  We  have   had countless  conversations  about  form  and  what  we  want  to  offer  Australian  audiences  during   this  production.     I  had  performed  developments  of  this  work  in  3  different  countries  internationally.  I  have   discovered  the  power  of  VO (Editor note: VO = Voiceover),  physical  theatre  and  a  language  that  was  older  than  words.  

When  Dino  approached  me  to  work  on  this  project,  I  knew  he  was  the  right  creative  to  work   with.  He  takes  risks,  is  prepared  to  work  very  hard  and  to  make  brave  artistic  choices.  We   have  collaborated  in  bringing  this  production  to  life.  We  truly  have.

I  had  moments  where  I   realised  that  I  was  losing  the  voice  of  the  character  and  my  connection  to  my  own  theatrical   language.  I  work  instinctually  as  does  he.  At  times  our  instincts  were  pointing  to  another   project  in  our  body  of  work…not  the  one  at  hand.  

So  it  has  been  a  rigorous,  challenging  and   rewarding  journey.  I  can  say  with  my  full  heart,  that  I  am  very  proud  of  this  production  and   the  world  we  have  created.  

SAG:  Working  with  Nisrine  Amine  must  be  fun  …  given  how  comic  and  clever  she  is  and  how   much  Oprah  watching  she  admits  to?

Aanisa:   Nisrine  is  a  wonderful  and  generous  person,  actress  and  creative.  I  did  not  even  know  that   she  loved  Oprah  so  much!  There  you  go!  She  is  sharp  as  a  tac  and  very  in  tune  with  her   instincts.  I  had  worked  with  her  previously  on  other  self-­‐devised  projects  and  I  am  very   grateful  to  be  working  with  her  again.  

SAG:  Nisrine admits to the Oprah indulgence on her blog.  Actually, on your own blog at your website, there  is  a  fascinating  anecdote  about  being  asked  to  audition  as  a  “sexually   confident  Arab­‐Muslim  woman”  and  the  misrepresentation  around  that  concept.    As  a   female  writer  and  as  a  “woman  from  a  strict  cultural  background  growing  up  in  Western   Sydney”,  does  your  work,  especially  a  comedy  about  sexuality  in  THE  GIRL,  speak  differently   to  different  audiences?

Aanisa:   The  version  of  sexuality  that  I  share  in  my  work  is  not  for  the  pleasure  of  the  viewer.  I  am   not  interested  in performing  sexually  for  anyone.  The  sexuality  that  is  present  in  my  work  is   a  vehicle  to  deal  with  other  issues  that  women  face  –  issues  with  confidence  (women  are   not  encouraged  to  find  their  own  version  of  this,  confidence  can  be  a  whisper,  as  mentioned   to  me  by  my  dance  teacher  Sela  Vai),  issues  with  belonging  (we  do  not  need  to  change  to  fit   in  anywhere,  we  need  to  belong  to  ourselves)  and  issues  with  acceptance.  These  are  some   of  the  layers  of  the  female  psyche  that  I  touch  upon  in  this  work.  

At  this  point,  I  am   exploring  female  centred  narratives  but  I  do  have  the  desire  to  research  other  narratives   from  other  walks  of  life  as  well.   This  work  is  not  about  me  nor  my  background  specifically.  It  is  a  human  story.  I  am  an  artist   and  am  excited  as  to  which  narratives  will  call  to  me  next.

SAG:  Something else to anticipate  there!  I am very much looking forward to seeing this particular work, best wishes for a successful run.

THE GIRL/THE WOMAN is playing at Riverside Theatres [Facebook] from 28 June – 07 July, 2018.