Local playwright, dramaturg, theatre maker and social worker, Rebecca Lister, will collaborate with writer, visual artist, poet and critic Eloise Grills over a 12 month period to adapt Elouise’s 2022 illustrated memoir “big beautiful female theory” into a play.
Eloise Grills is an award-winning artist and writer living on unceded Dja Dja Wurrung land. Her illustrated memoir ‘big beautiful female theory’ was published in Australia by Affirm Press in 2022. The book was shortlisted for the 2023 Stella Prize, shortlisted for the 2023 Indie Book Award for Illustrated Nonfiction, highly commended in the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for Nonfiction and highly commended by the judges of the 2021 Peter Blazey Fellowship.
Rebecca Lister is an award-winning playwright, writer, arts producer, MC and social worker. She is the co-artistic Director of arts company Anvil Productions and a counsellor at Eating Disorders Victoria. Rebecca is the monthly MC of intergenerational storytelling show Generation Women and the monthly host of live chat show ‘On the couch with Beck Lister’. Her book, co-written with Tony Kelly, ‘Growing Pineapples in the Outback’ was published by UQPress in 2020. Rebecca lives on Dja Dja Wurrung country.
This project has been funded by an $18,000 grant from the state government’s Creative Projects Fund. It will take Grills’ work from the page to the stage enabling a far greater audience to engage with this ground breaking material.
The book is a feminist exploration based on Elouise’s personal experience, of how fat bodies have been idealised, fetishised and demonised and the impact of this in a society obsessed with the narrow appearance ideal.
Beck, who currently lives in Daylesford, was putting together a creative writing program as part of her job as a counsellor for Eating Disorders Victoria and wanted someone to speak on body image. Her search located Elouise who happened to be living in Daylesford at the time. (Elouise now lives in Ballan.) Beck read the book, thought there was material for a stage production, and a friendship was born.
The two will work together over 11 months to develop a production draft and they plan to hold a public reading in Daylesford for industry professionals and others in May 2025.
While Beck will lead the process and use her expertise as a playwright to guide the development, the process undertaken will be highly collaborative, drawing on the two writers’ backgrounds to create a work that reflects their unique capabilities. Beck’s particular interest and social work background in eating disorders connects aptly with the book’s subversion of cultural scripts around diet culture and insistence on body neutrality as a resistance.
Bringing this work to a stage where it will be ready to be performed will help to introduce the work to a new audience, building on the success and wider cultural relevance of her literary work.
The adaptation of bbft to stage is a natural development for Lister. She has a history as a playwright of taking real stories and weaving these into palpable, poignant, humorous and accessible theatre. This opportunity will allow Lister to meld her two areas of expertise as a playwright and as a mental health social worker in eating disorders.
This opportunity represents a chance for Grills to further develop her work and skills through the guidance and expertise of Lister. Grills’ work blends visuals, poetry, memoir and comics with playfulness and experimentalism. Her work lends itself to the new domain of contemporary theatre, and this opportunity will allow her to explore a new medium with a skilled writer and established arts company.
The project is being supported by the state government’s $2.2 million Creative Projects Fund which is supporting 123 projects across the state. The Fund helps independent creatives and organisations to develop new projects, undertake professional development and take their work to national and international markets.
The Creative Projects Fund has a dedicated First Peoples stream which will support 22 projects including a children’s book about preserving culture, the creation of two artworks exploring the sacred site Leanganook on Dja Dja Wurrung country and a brand new circus performance by Na Dijnang Circus.
“This fund is supporting local creatives and entrepreneurs to take their ideas to the next level and build their careers and business,” said Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas.
For more information and the full list of Creative Projects Fund grant recipients, visit creative.vic.gov.au.
Elouise Grill’s book, “big beautiful female theory” is available at Paradise Books in Daylesford.
This article is based on a media release from the office of Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas, and information provided by Anvil Productions.
