Brighton show explores the pressures of perfectionism in a musical family

SussexWorld

You Aren't Doing it Wrong (If No One Knows What You're Doing) is the intriguing title of the show that Rachel Blackman and Stillpoint Theatre bring to Brighton Dome’s Studio Theatre (December 6-7).

Transcript

00:00Great.

00:04Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers.

00:07Lovely to speak to Rachel Blackman, who's bringing a show to Brighton before too long,

00:11and it comes with a fabulous title, You Aren't Doing It Wrong If No-One Knows What You're Doing.

00:14Though it sounds like there's an awful lot encompassed in that title, isn't there?

00:19And it goes back to your childhood in Australia,

00:22a family of musical perfectionists, is that the first time?

00:28I think that's fair to say, Phil, yeah.

00:30So what are you saying with this?

00:32It's you coping with perfectionism and not necessarily being a perfectionist yourself,

00:36isn't it?

00:37Well, I think when you come from a family of perfectionists, it's very easy.

00:42That's just the water you're swimming in, right?

00:44So that was what I inherited.

00:46And I really had the sense that that was normal.

00:51In our family, that was baseline.

00:54So I guess what I'm trying to explore in the show is what might be the territory

01:01between perfectionism and failure.

01:03Like, if we could open up some territory, like stretch open that territory a little bit,

01:08what might playing in that area be like?

01:11And is the implication you're trying to open up a healthier territory?

01:16Perfectionism can't be that great for the soul, can it?

01:19Well, I guess it achieves certain things.

01:22But there's also a big cost if we're not able to, if I'm not able to make a mistake

01:29or kind of experiment and fail, like fertile failure, sweet failure, one of my friends

01:34calls it, because that's how learning happens and discovery happens.

01:39And we can't discover unless we're prepared to fall over a few times and work out how

01:43to do it better next time.

01:45So it sounds so intriguing.

01:46But the point is, you've worked through all this before writing the show.

01:51We're not, we've not got you on stage working through it all for life.

01:56No, oh good heavens, that would be awful.

01:58No, no, it isn't a territory of like needing to try and solve these problems live.

02:09They are solved.

02:10It's more, yeah, it's more inviting the audience into the questions so that you can reflect

02:15on it in your own life and your own relationships.

02:19And I found a lot of people after the show are reflecting on their own stories, their

02:24own childhood stories.

02:26What's the actual format for the show?

02:28Just you?

02:30It's a solo performance, yeah, with a direct, it's got quite a lot of direct address and

02:35some scenes as well.

02:36But mostly I'm talking directly to you and you're invited into my world.

02:44And a lot of that's the world of my childhood.

02:48And through being invited into my world, hopefully there's an opportunity for you to

02:53reflect on your own, what normal was in your childhood, in your family environment.

02:59Yeah.

02:59Fantastic.

03:00Well, it sounds fascinating.

03:01Rachel, really lovely to speak to you.

03:03Good luck with the show and possibly a tour next year.

03:07Thank you so much.

03:07Yeah, 2025.

03:09Hopefully it'll be in the rest of the UK.

03:11So keep me posted.

03:12Lovely to talk to you.

03:14Talk to you too.

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