Elisabeth Flett
Binge Fringe writer Elisabeth Flett is an Aberdeen local, so when they heard Light the Blue youth multi-artform festival was including Olive & Anya’s Itch – a scratch night hosted by The Lemon Tree, showcasing the work of six emerging artists and the hosting skills of Aberdeen’s quickest drag duo – they decided to go and check out the camp extravaganza.
Joyously queer and unashamedly strange, artists Olive (Claudia Sneddon) and Anya (Joey Morris) use speculative fiction and dramaturgy alongside costuming and props to create imaginative personas and drag alter egos, their unforgettable performances making them a celebrated fixture in the North-East performance scene. This scratch night was everything Aberdeen audience have come to expect from an Olive & Anya show: fun, experimental, and enjoyably weird.
All the performances in Itch were created in under twenty-four hours, and although some performances were more fully realised than others there was something to enjoy in all six creative concepts and in the concept of the show overall, the audience informed on arrival that these artists were trapped in a mysterious hospital, undergoing trials to cure them of obscure illnesses such as ‘performance anxiety’ under the not-entirely watchful eye of nurses Olive and Anya, resplendent in Frank-n-Furter-meets-Orin Scrivello outfits.
From Jacob Collier-worthy group music-making with boomwhackers and balloons to Greek mythic retellings, dadaist clowning and an interpretive dance by someone in an astronaut costume, there was something for everyone in Itch. Elisabeth sat down with Claudia and Joey in a Lemon Tree dressing room on the afternoon of the performance – and midway through those twenty-four hours of rehearsals – to learn more about their work as Olive & Anya, and how Olive & Anya’s Itch came to life.
Elisabeth: Hi! Can you start off by telling our readers a little bit about yourselves and how you started to collaborate as a creative duo?
.Joey: So we met in the third year of art school here in Aberdeen. Claudia was in the same studio space as me, and I had a mirror on my desk, and she also had a mirror on her desk. I just kept on, like, catching her eye in the mirror, so then we met at that point and I think just very quickly realised that we had a pretty similar sense of humour. And then lockdown happened, and all of the expectations for everything regarding the course just went out of the window and yeah, everything felt a little bit pointless. So, yeah, one day I kind of just asked Claudia to, like, film me falling down the hill, because that’s where I was at. And she was like, “Yeah!”
Claudia: Yeah. And I feel like from then it kind of went from performing for each other in the mirror, and like trying to catch each other’s eye…then filming and falling down a hill… then we started playing, just being together and making without purpose. We made a film for our degree show collaboratively and then after graduating, and not having access to like editing software, and lenses, and cameras and all that stuff… We were like, maybe we should try performing onstage? So then we started doing drag nights, at Joy on Tap, Aberdeen’s drag night. and then from there we did a show at The Lemon Tree. It was really, like, a learn as you go approach. Yeah, the DIY approach was so important.
Joey: Yeah, and like, failure is success.
Elisabeth: Would you say you’re moving from art-based to a performance-based practice, creatively?
Joey: Yeah, totally. Kind of like, holding each other’s hands a little bit as we go.
Claudia: It’s a driving force of like, let’s do something that make us really uncomfortable.
Elisabeth: Why do you think why do you think that’s such an interesting thing for you, in terms of something to lean towards?
Joey: The discomfort? I think there’s maybe something in it in like, the queer experience. Where it’s like, in order for it to be valid it needs to be really difficult and unpleasant, you know? [laughs]
Claudia: I think coming from like the whole, back in COVID art school experience of limited access and no workshops and us being like, okay, we have nothing to access, what do we have ourselves? Let’s just use us, what places can we put ourselves that are uncomfortable, where can we go? Holding on to each other and being like no, there’s light at the end of the tunnel and we can have fun, and enjoy it.
Joey: Yeah, I’ve made it sound grim but it’s also really fun! A lot of it is like, oh, what would it feel like to like, you know, be covered in spaghetti or whatever, you know?
Elisabeth: I saw the butter churning strip tease performance you did here a while back, so I can confirm the fun! How did you get involved in Light the Blue?
Claudia: They had an emerging young artists page, so we applied for the twenty-four hour challenge through that.
Elisabeth: And it’s not just you performing in this event, you’ve involved lots of different collaborators to be part of it. How did you come to that decision?
Claudia: We wanted to open it up to anyone, so we proposed was that it was going to be a twenty-four hour challenge and that we welcomed anyone to join us in those twenty-four hours, to make a piece of work. All strangers for the most part, which is really exciting and quite nice, I think. It’s been a super welcoming, nurturing environment with everyone just being on board and being like, let’s go for it.
Joey: I feel so lucky at the kind of people that have applied to do it, people from all different backgrounds, and it’s really interesting to fill in the gaps in each other’s knowledge – people have come from doing formal training, and studies on performance, and acting. It’s really interesting to hear everybody’s, like, in-point, into it [performance].
Claudia: With it being Light the Blue, everyone had to be aged twenty to thirty. And everyone is from the North-East as well. So, yeah, it’s a good mix. Such a good mix of everything.
Elisabeth: Are there any unexpected or powerful moments to come out of the rehearsal process?
Claudia: A real care for everyone. Just like, so many moments of, “Can I grab your input on this?”, and just everyone’s willingness to be open and immediately vulnerable in themselves has created a really nice space.
Elisabeth: I feel like there’s also something quite inherently queer about DIY collaboration.
Joey: Yeah!
Elisabeth: What do you hope audience members will take away from the experience of seeing the scratch?
Claudia: Wow. [Claudia and Joey laugh]
Joey: I think, considering that it’s all work that’s been created twenty-four hours, maybe there’s a little inspiration that breaks down that fear people have of creating their own ideas.
Claudia: Also us coming from being in drag spaces and feeling like, is this a good fit for us? And then being like, okay, on-stage…is this us…? Then creating a space that’s like, an art space… Yeah, we’re making a new space. One where hopefully the audience can see that it doesn’t need to be serious, we can make mistakes and have fun together, and a space where people feel like they got a bit scared, but it’s okay in the end.
Elisabeth: It seems like that’s maybe your ‘brand’: leaning into discomfort through playfulness. And that this is like you’re extending that experience out to the audience.
Joey: Yeah, yeah! Totally.
Elisabeth: Great. So, here at Binge Fringe we’re all about platforming queer and marginalised voices. Would you like to shout out an artist or creative practitioner who you’re really loving at the moment?
Joey: Sleepy [Aberdeen drag artist].
Elisabeth: We all love Sleepy!
Joey: We do! And Sleepy has been such a guiding light for us, right from the beginning at Joy on Tap.
Claudia: Such a beam.
Elisabeth: Finally… As is Binge Fringe tradition, I’m going to end our chat by inviting you to share your drink of choice.
Claudia: Anything with two straws.
Follow the artists involved on Instagram for future updates: Olive & Anya: @oliveandanya, Sleepy: @she.is.sleepy
Jake Mace
Lamesha Ruddock
