Most of you would already know Rick Viede as Glace Chase, his loud mouthed car-crash cabaret singing altar-ego. But Rick is also a talented young playwright. His debut work Whore won the Griffin Playwrights Award last year, and it’s just about to open at Belvoir St Theatre for a month long run. We chatted to Rick about darkness, danger and fabulosity.
So, we’re used to seeing you as Glace. Are similar qualities shining through in the script of Whore?
I guess the central linking point to Glace and my writing is that they all express a desire to unmask, to shine the light to the darker recesses of the mind and what stuff lurks there. And I have a great love for complicated, human characters who are full of contradictions and ironies – which both Glace and the characters in my plays possess.
Also, and probably most importantly, there is a pretty off the wall sense of humour that underlies all of my work. Only I would create a character so obnoxiously beautiful as Glace, and Sara who is convinced that prostitution will be her ticket to fabulosity – which is my new word for fabulous.
Whore sounds like quite a dark piece. What are the issues dealt with here?
This piece is like a gothic fairytale where two young kids reach for the gods and wind up amongst the mortals. My two kids might be escorts but they’re smart, savvy, sophisticated and ambitious. And along their journey they learn that things are never as simple as they first appear. It looks at issues such as the need for love, the price of ambition and self protection, and also what is the true cost of growing up.
It’s like the two Angelina Jolie tattoo quotes: ‘What feeds me destroys me’ and my favourite, which is originally from Tennessee Williams – ‘A prayer for the wild at heart, trapped in cages’.
Are you writing from personal experience?
I think most queer people can identify with the central issues of the play. I certainly relate to my lead character Sara’s desire to be interesting, amazing even, and going through a lot of pain when she realises that she’s made some big mistakes in order to get there. I have joked that a lot of courage and low self esteem make for a heady cocktail, and I think a lot of queer people can relate to this. A life of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll can leave you pretty destroyed if you’re not careful.
Why should people go and see Whore? What do you hope audiences will get out of it?
Whore is a play in vivid colours that is not afraid to expose the complexities of love, sex and success in our youth obsessed culture. I think audiences will enjoy its rawness, its sense of humour and its emotional truth, and allow them to ponder their own experiences of sexuality, violence and the need to feel like one has a place in the world.
And if that doesn’t do it for you, then our amazing actors might – they aren’t afraid of a bit of onstage nudity, which is surely what theatre should be about!
Whore plays downstairs at Belvoir St Theatre from June 4 to 24.
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