Fizzy Sherbet presents: The Fizzy Sherbet Podcast Live A live recording of a new audio play by Athena Stevens’ launches the inaugural season of a narrative podcast series The Bush Theatre, Saturday 2nd October 2021 @FizzySherbetFun | #FizzySherbetPodcast | www.fizzysherbetplays.com |
International new writing initiative Fizzy Sherbet are launching the first six-episode season of their Fizzy Sherbet Podcast with a live, in-person recording in front of audience at the Bush Theatre. The Diagnosis, a brand-new audio drama by Athena Stevens (Schism, Scrounger, Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels), will be performed live followed by conversations and a Q&A with Athena, director Anna Girvan and author and activist Sophie Williams. Following their live launch, The Fizzy Sherbet Podcast will present a new play weekly, each by a female or non-binary writer or director, accompanied by an interview with the playwright and a special guest.
The Diagnosis explores the concept of the lost voice. It was inspired by the Cassandra Effect, a metaphor from Greek mythology of a Trojan woman cursed to deliver true prophecies but never to be believed, and instead dismissed as mad or ‘hysterical’. The Diagnosis is about a woman who awakens one morning able to see how those closest to her will lose their power and autonomy. The weight of this knowledge forces her to warn them of their demise, only to be dismissed by those she cares about the most. After being continuously silenced, she decides to succumb to other people’s dismissals, regardless of the consequences. Athena’s piece speaks to a world where voices are not heard, even when they are raised. Where the easy option is to avoid conflict and accept the status quo. The Diagnosis speaks to a world that is crumbling due to climate and political crises, and it is all too easy to feel like a drop in the ocean with little power to change its tide.
Playwright Athena Stevens says: “I have learned over the past several years that I have a form of realistic pessimism. I don’t know if it’s chemical or simply as a result of my life experiences, but anyone who has lived long enough in the margins knows the absolute disaster that can come out of relying on wishful thinking rather than looking at reality. We’ve now seen very much the danger of that philosophy and have dismissed realists as being overly negative. What then will it take for us to look our current crises in the face with the hope of fixing them, rather than a wilful blindness towards what we don’t want to see.”
The Fizzy Sherbet Podcast is an international platform for women and non-binary writers and directors. Every week they present a new short play, an interview with the playwright and a further interview with a special guest. Their mission is to create a global network of artists, to enable plays and voices to travel across borders and to open up a more directly accessible way of distributing new plays and playwrights. They are passionate about enabling audiences - from theatre makers, artistic directors, theatre lovers to podcast lovers - to get to know contemporary playwrights in different countries. The season programme is currently being selected from an open call for submissions which saw 394 women and non-binary writers submit scripts from across the world, including Malta, Romania, Denmark, Sweden, USA, UK, Brazil, Singapore, Lithuania, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Ireland, Poland, Cameroon, Germany, Canada, New Mexico, Taiwan, Russia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, India, Hong Kong, Uganda & Nigeria. The podcast ran a small number of preview episodes last year but this is their first fully funded and produced season.
Tamara von Werthern, co-founder of Fizzy Sherbet, says, “It’s such an exciting culmination of our mostly distanced work over the pandemic, to all come together in one room. I look forward to connecting with creatives and audience members on the night, and I am very excited about kicking off our new season with a brand-new play from Athena Stevens, who is such an exciting voice in theatre right now.”
Running Time: 120 mins (inc interval) | Suitable for ages: 14+
The Diagnosis
Written by: Athena Stevens Directed by: Anna Girvan
Sound design: Keegan Curran. Produced by: Ameena Hamid & Steph J Weller
Cast: Lizzie Annis Special Guest: Sophie Williams
Fizzy Sherbet Podcast
Hosts: Lily McLeish, Tamara von Werthern and Josephine Starte
Script reviewer Sandra Theresa Buch
Listings information
Saturday 2nd October, 7.30pm
Bush Theatre 7 Uxbridge Road Shepherd's Bush London W12 8LJ
£8 (concs £4.50 - £5.50) | www.bushtheatre.co.uk/event/
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