PASHUN has been in the works since June last year and we could not be more keen for it to finally hit the stage. In anticipation, we had a chat to playwright Harrison Mills about all things PASHUN!
If you could be an animal what animal would you be?
I’d be a little monkey called Bofa in the Deesenaughts mountains, bouldering up and doing
little monkey dances to silly songs with my fellow monkeys. Serious monkey business in the
Deesenaughts mountains is good for the soul.
Tell us about PASHUN in one sentence.
PASHUN is where masculine, feminine and enby energy collides into a comedically absurdist
romp questioning what it means to be pashunate and to be loving and lustful in modern
society.
What inspired you to write this play?
I wrote this play in part due to the overbearing presence technology has on my generation.
It’s made everything so nebulous and excessive in entertainment, inspiration and long-term
dating. It needs to be here yesterday and make me feel fucking fantastic because anything that doesn’t live up to it is disappointing.
I also wanted to highlight how that detrimental impact has amplified fear of commitment and
gives rise to the “men are trash” narrative that BOTH hyper-masculine influences like
Andrew Tate and the women who feel burned by the toxicity they’ve faced. How does that
hurt people? What empathy can be mined from that? Lastly, making something that pushes
the theatrical form to the limit! There’s too much mediocre work infecting our stages, so
making something that challenges that was paramount.
What is special about this production for you?
So many reasons, my dear reader. For a start, working with the magical theatre themboss
called El Waddingham. They believed in the idea, and they believed in me. For one of the
brightest campest theatre-makers to help produce and dramaturg this weird thing has been
nothing short of inspiring. To have a bunch of motivated cast and crew realise that vision in
their interpretation has been lovely. We’re on the precipice of inheriting these stages and
we’re fucking weird, so let us be weird. And at the crux of everything, PASHUN is where I
wrote a funny show that I want to see first and foremost that isn’t conforming to the
pessimistic sensibilities and politics that plague us, and pushing it to 11. It’s alive, it has a
pulse and it’s PASHUNATE.
What are you most excited to see come to life?
The sheer horror in people’s faces after realising that everyone at theatrePUNK produced
another almighty banger that’s comparable to finding religion. I’ve been able to sit in on the
energy that the director Josh, Cast and Crew are conjuring up and everyone is so pashunate
that I don’t think everyone realises it’s going to be catastrophic. It’s almost like reaching
Nirvana or going to a Travis Scott concert. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone
collectively pashuns over each other so much after the show that it makes headlines.
Why should audiences be keen to see this show?
This is the future of theatre, whether people like it or not. It captures the generational zeitgeist of the present, in all its glory, and is accessible enough to both the non-theatre going public and the regular patrons with its humour, themes, narratives and sheer insanity that most shows in Meanjin can’t do. If you’ve ever been in love, want to break the ice with a Hinge date, or simply want to feel something that isn’t terrible for 90 minutes, see this!
Furthermore, if you feel disenfranchised with how the old guard is programming shows, this
show is a massive fuck you to all of that. Lastly, if you want to watch a show where misfits,
outcasts and revolutionaries make a show that makes fun of bullshit societal norms while
being funnier than Family Guy, then buy a ticket. And afterwards, go outside and PASHUN
as hard as you can.
