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Annabel McConnachie
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Annabel McConnachie (she/her) is an actress, writer, singer, dancer and content creator. She is originally from Sydney, Australia but is currently based in New York City. She is best known for her work in the critically acclaimed miniseries 'IKEA Heights - The Next Generation'.
Her much anticipated new play 'Archive of My Own' made its stage debut in a moved reading at the Tank.
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Transcript
Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
You are listening to Something Rather Than Nothing. Creator and host, Ken Valente. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer.
00:00:24
Speaker
Yeah, it is.
Successful Readings and Upcoming Performances
00:00:25
Speaker
We had a little reading of it at the Tank Theatre March, which went really well and was really fun. And now we're like putting it on its feet and probably doing an actualised version the New York Theatre Festival at the Hudson Guild Theatre in July.
00:00:42
Speaker
This is great. Whoever you're talking about, you're talking with the NFL. The Heroes of the Rath, nothing.
New Play Themes and Fanfiction
00:00:50
Speaker
And the play
00:01:05
Speaker
was about hey Tell us about the performance. Absolutely. yeah um So it's a play that I wrote um and that also cast myself in, so I am also in it.
00:01:17
Speaker
um And it's a coming-of-age play, ah which kind of has like two worlds in it. One world is the world of Glee fanfiction.
00:01:28
Speaker
um You've got like characters like Rachel Berry, Finn Hudson, all of the characters from Glee, and it's all like verbatim excerpts of fanfiction that I wrote when I was 12. oh And this like idealized view of love and sex and relationships.
00:01:44
Speaker
juxtaposed with the main character in real life, expecting yeah the dating scene to be like that and then actually getting there and realizing that it's just like drastically different and way more awkward and clumsy and less choreographed.
00:01:58
Speaker
I love it. ah I mean, do you do everything? like My hyphenates? Yeah. um So I went to school, majored in acting, also did like a lot of playwriting classes. So I'd say my like two main things are actor and writer.
00:02:17
Speaker
um But I'm interested a lot of like random stuff. I love i have like a podcast where I love like content creation and stuff. Um... Yeah, they're my main hats, but I dabble in some other ones. like I direct sometimes, stage manage sometimes, stuff like that. But yeah, like the theater industry and like the film industry is my two big loves.
Co-hosting a Movie Review Podcast
00:02:41
Speaker
Dang, can't find your podcast. can't find your podcast. It's a podcast called Six See You Next Tuesday that I co-host with my best friend. And it's basically just like a movie review podcast. Sometimes we'll like review the newest movies out um we also have a series where we're just like re-watching every single animated barbie movie um and sometimes like we'll take a classic film and recast it with actors from now like we we did one on psycho and cost it was like if it were to be made in 2025 who would be cast in the leads um so just like fun stuff about movies because we're big cinephiles
00:03:20
Speaker
I love it. love it. So tell us about, you know, we are born is like ah creating when like, time. Like, it something you always do? You always artists?
00:03:39
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
Theatre Passion and New York Dreams
00:03:40
Speaker
So I'm from Australia. um And i grew up in Sydney. And i think I was just... um always like a very theatrical child.
00:03:50
Speaker
My parents were very, i'm I'm a Leo and they were like, yeah, that reads, that really shows. get it. Yes. What'd you about there? August 4th. That's my birthday.
00:04:01
Speaker
Oh, my gosh. Everybody. yeah That's crazy. and then we yeah We got the birthday baby here. Absolutely. Us and Obama.
00:04:12
Speaker
Crazy lineup for August 4th. Where the heck is this going to go? for ah so Yes, born August 4th. um And so I just always had a lot of creative energy. I'm an only child as well, so I would like always just like have a lot of pent-up solo creative energy. i was like very into dolls. I would like make plays with them. And my mom was like, we've got to channel this somewhere normal.
00:04:36
Speaker
um So I did a lot of dance classes and acting classes and singing classes and stuff growing up. Um, and then got like really involved in my local community theater scene in Sydney.
00:04:48
Speaker
yeah um did a lot of like musicals. There's this really good pro-am company for like young adults and adults where they'll take on younger people and amateurs and then they'll cast in the leads professional working Australian actors, which is really, really cool. So you get like experience working with people who have been in the industry and like making connections and stuff. It's really, really cool.
00:05:09
Speaker
Um, So yeah, I did a lot of that. um And then I always just had my heart set on New York. i but i was a very i visited when I was eight and apparently I said to my mom, like I'm going to move here one day.
00:05:23
Speaker
This is going to be it. And she was like, sure. Okay, we'll see. um And then I just never let that go. It wasn't a phase. I really clung on to that. was it? What was it?
00:05:34
Speaker
there bu I went to see The Lion King and I went to see Mary Poppins and I loved it. I was like, i I want to do that and I want to do that here.
00:05:45
Speaker
I just really had my heart set on it. um I think also there's a lot of stimulation and New York, like in terms of just Times Square, there's a lot of lights, there's a lot of things going on, a lot of sensory overload. And I really ate that up as a kid. I was like, I want to be there. I want to see be in the bright lights of New York City.
00:06:04
Speaker
um ah So when it came time for applying to colleges and stuff after ah graduated high school, I did a couple of short courses in Sydney because moving across the world is a ah big transition.
00:06:18
Speaker
um But I still just like couldn't get rid of that New York bug, um applied to stuff over here. And then, yeah, I attended the new school, which was great.
00:06:28
Speaker
I loved that. the new school, what a great place. Yeah, it was great. I love all of the teachers there are so, so good. um They're also like working in the industry and stuff, so they're like doing plays on weekends and doing immersing themselves in the theater industry here and then coming and teaching us, and I felt like really lucky to be a part of that.
00:06:48
Speaker
um Yeah, I made some great friends, made some great connections. and that's That's my journey from Sydney to New Yeah, but New York City thing,
00:07:02
Speaker
you know, the air there. You know, I like quiet as well, but there's something on spectacle, particularly around the city district there.
00:07:14
Speaker
It's crazy. The New York City Never Sleeps saying apt. It's accurate. um it's It's very buzzy. Sometimes I do agree, like, it can get exhausting.
00:07:25
Speaker
It's a lot. um But I really love that, like, artistic stimulation there's like always something going on there are different lots of different artistic pockets so you'll never get bored um and there's like a lot of artistic variety which is really really cool there's like a lot of like mainstream theater fringe shows everything in between yeah one of the dreams i've had is on the podcast to be able to connect to um maybe friends that haven't practiced around as much including either dumb it's been such lovely experience to learn about how it happens and the immediate and temporality of this I was listening to the podcast economics
00:08:13
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Three, four-part series. Like, is theater dead? Well, it's not. Why not? And what's happening in the industry is that they follow the thread of a being performed.
00:08:32
Speaker
It was just really fascinating about the series. like what is this strange thing that we do with theater nowadays with you know you can stream can do this how do you get live people in live performance what does it mean yeah right now you have any thoughts on that like you know Yeah, I think it's really cool. So just in terms of like, theater started very classically. There was like the Freutag pyramid, like the five-act structure and everyone stuck to that.
00:09:03
Speaker
um And now it's just so many doors have been opened and
Evolving Theatre and Unique Performances
00:09:07
Speaker
the definition of theater is just like constantly evolving and there's like not one thing pinned down, which was really cool. I got to see um the picture of Dorian Gray last week. I got rush tickets. I woke up at 6am.
00:09:19
Speaker
And it was... insane i was blown away i'd only heard good things but i i don't know i wasn't skeptical but i was like maybe it's overrated just but it's not as a piece of theater it's so cool one woman sarah snork does everything in it she plays 46 roles or something like that um and it's a combination of a pre-record that she made in 2013 she's been doing this for two years now of some of the different characters and voices and whatever, and also her changing and transitioning between characters on stage. So it's her acting opposite a prerecord of herself and then playing these 46 different characters. like It's crazy.
00:09:58
Speaker
um It's the acting challenge of a lifetime. And I'm just like, that's so cool. like The more multimedia that you can involve in theatre now, it's kind of like blurring the lines between theatre and film. And yeah, I just think like the opportunities are endless. Anything can be theatre.
00:10:14
Speaker
it. Great. I want to get into conceptual questions, but before we do that, Mary, so it's July. Folks are in the theater, archive of my own.
00:10:26
Speaker
Yes. or oh What do we start off? What do you want people see start to experience? Absolutely.
00:10:37
Speaker
um So in terms of what I want them to experience, that's up to them. i mean, i my goal is for everyone to come in and have a good time. it is a comedy. um It's definitely like a female-driven kind of shining a light on the uncomfortable acts ah aspects of sex from the female perspective as influenced by like crazy idealistic fan fiction. As influenced by Glee, yeah. Yeah.
00:11:06
Speaker
home and So I definitely want people to just like have fun. It's campy and fun and doesn't take itself too seriously. um but also, weirdly, what I've um come across talking to people about it, a lot of people I know were like, yeah, I read a lot of fanfiction growing up, but then I got into the real on and said, what is this? This is nothing like what I read about.
00:11:27
Speaker
i kind of feel like I was gaslit and lied to. I was set up for something that is just completely different. oh So it's kind of universal in a sense that like media sets us up for one thing and then the reality is just nothing like it.
00:11:40
Speaker
But um there isn't a ton of media about like the influence that fan fiction has had on a generation. ah So I think it's like a specific take for something that's universal.
00:11:56
Speaker
Well, in the fan fiction
Impact of Fanfiction on Relationship Perceptions
00:11:58
Speaker
universe, you find, like, these whole breathing cultures of, like, talented folks and, like, repositioning things.
00:12:08
Speaker
You know, just a lot of playing. And it has the same character, like, anything else you do, like, for an artist, like...
00:12:20
Speaker
obsession, like, or meaning, being like idealization and such. But in when we look at fan culture and, like, what's created their influence, I was thinking about this weird, the question we can all say to is, like, when you come around the, like,
00:12:45
Speaker
Or you growing up? How do you learn like how humans interact with each other, including homicid sex, things like that? Then when look at culture as a whole, oh yeah you don't think, at least I'm going to think overtly, are the leaders there or supposed to behave?
00:13:04
Speaker
I'm like, the weird question of what's it like looking at relationships, dating? I grew up in the like I look at some of those moments and I say, like, messed up.
00:13:18
Speaker
Like, you know, all the dynamics between men and in women, very gender dichotomy, like all that,
00:13:28
Speaker
traditional. And did you end up being...
00:13:35
Speaker
worried or disturbed well like the the creation of the idealization or was it that is the source for the comedy or both totally no absolutely it's like i feel like media tells you like so many different conflicting things right so like sometimes like you've got movies especially like i love an 80s movie um um And they like definitely like the dynamics, like you were saying, the sometimes like toxic power dynamics or um yeah stuff like that. So that's kind of that's the scary version. like Maybe it's going to be like that.
00:14:09
Speaker
And then I feel like some female-written fan fiction that I read that's also all written by 12-year-olds, so like no one knows what they're talking about, ah is kind of like a reaction to that. And it's like...
00:14:21
Speaker
And sex is so easy and great and it doesn't hurt at all. And it's all on the woman's terms. um So it's just like completely the opposite and also not true.
00:14:35
Speaker
and So it's like, I don't know. I don't know what is the best thing to consume and what expectations they're supposed to set. Like, and it's just basically like grappling with, well, none of this is true and I don't know how to feel.
00:14:46
Speaker
All right, well, let's get a little conceptual, maybe we could try answers. And Annabelle, Connick, and we're both saying, hey, Leo's not arguing.
00:14:57
Speaker
We're not trying to provide our space to Leo's seats. Exactly. Yeah, we're going to be two harmonious Leos today. That's so funny.
00:15:09
Speaker
That's crazy. All right. ah I was asking about somebody back when you were contact with GARP. What is GARP? What do you think art is?
00:15:21
Speaker
That's such a good question. um I feel like GARP is the It's externalization in whatever medium or form you choose of just like something that you want to say.
00:15:37
Speaker
um i feel like if you have something that you want to say and you manage to put that like onto paper, on a canvas, on a stage, on a page, that is art. It's just kind of like how you produce your feelings or thoughts or perspectives.
00:15:53
Speaker
I love it. um Thank you. On the, like, when we think about plays and ah thinking about the things that you mentioned as far as maybe
00:16:22
Speaker
being able to take in those elements and kind of like evolve into its next form? Or is there a traditionalism that should be adhered to for continuance?
00:16:35
Speaker
Um, I, I absolutely believe in bringing in like as many fun and creative aspects as possible.
Theatre's Role in Society
00:16:41
Speaker
i like ah in school, we like learned about the structure of all the like traditional theater. And I think it's like, you need to know the mold in order to break the mold.
00:16:51
Speaker
Uh, so like the traditional aspects definitely, of course, valid, great, incredible building blocks, incredible foundation, but also like the, but we don't need a gatekeep, uh, theater and make it,
00:17:04
Speaker
oh I think sometimes there's like a classism to that where it's like it needs to be this traditional the traditional theater and it needs to be on a Broadway stage and it needs to be Shakespeare um but that's not accessible to everyone I think like what you have access to and what like creative little wacky ideas you have if you could infuse them in any way and in any way that hasn't been done before all are welcome yeah what do you think the role of art is?
00:17:30
Speaker
Or let's say theater right now. If I ask question, like, the world feels like it does right now. Is there anything now about what theater should we be doing?
00:17:49
Speaker
Or, like, its a role is deciding now? Absolutely. I think that theater can be really important in terms of the capturing either like the current climate or capturing like dystopian theatre acting as a warning for like what things could become if we continue on this track or continue on a different track. So I definitely think it's like really vital in those aspects.
00:18:17
Speaker
And then there's also theatre that is purely to entertain and distract and alleviate and insane stress about like what may be going on outside and act as a form of escapism from...
00:18:32
Speaker
everything else so i think that both are like really valid and really great and that sometimes theater can be like really educational and didactic and sometimes that it can totally just be a form of escapism and alleviation from crazy stress yeah um something about watching people acting things kind of sort through it you know it's like a ritual of drama you know yeah absolutely yeah i I definitely feel like watching people's performances is so powerful and so inspirational but I think as an actor it's really inspirational um to like see someone go on a journey is um yeah it's like they get to experience every emotion sometimes so you don't have to they work through your stuff for you yeah it's like a therapeutic
00:19:24
Speaker
You've worked in some film. You've worked on film. Do you a theater performance, or is there some film that draws you?
00:19:40
Speaker
I really love both. This is like my Sophie's choice. It's very tough. um i Especially like consume as a consumer, I probably consume more movies than I consume theater because of the accessibility of it.
00:19:54
Speaker
um I love both mediums and... Honestly, it's hard. I think I might be in a little theater phase at the moment. um Just because I've been really, every like thought and creative inspiration I've been having has really been more like play-leaning.
00:20:12
Speaker
But sometimes I then completely switch up modes and I'm more film-leaning.
Short Film 'Smokehouse and Mirrors'
00:20:17
Speaker
Actually, I wrote a short film and I'm filming it next month. Yeah. Yes, it's called Smokehouse and Mirrors.
00:20:25
Speaker
It started as a short play that I wrote when I was in college, and now I'm switching up the medium. um And it's about girl who was in love with this guy, has been in love with this guy for ages, and um finally...
00:20:42
Speaker
ah her dream has come true. asked her out and he asked her out to his family's steakhouse, except she's a vegetarian. So, um, the, the, gold there so unfortunately this doesn't occur to her.
00:20:57
Speaker
She, instead of maybe ordering a salad and being normal, she says, well, I've got to assimilate the steaks. It's really, The stakes are through the roof. And I, in fact, have to order a stake. I need him to really think that I fit in in this environment.
00:21:10
Speaker
um And then the stake becomes sentient and becomes like a manifestation of her guilty conscience. And they kind of hash it out in the stake And that's the blood of the film. I think you got something there.
00:21:21
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I've been vegan for 30 years. Oh, my gosh. That's amazing. Yeah.
00:21:33
Speaker
they ah I love that. I've had a lot of tests on. I love short films. They're such great directors. really excited to hopefully see that for you.
00:21:45
Speaker
Yeah. I want to into some of the details about this play coming up in July from your radio interview. Mm-hmm.
00:21:57
Speaker
Tell folks they want to see it, want to spread the word about and play it.
New York Theatre Festival Participation
00:22:03
Speaker
like Where do they go? Do they learn more about you get tickets?
00:22:07
Speaker
Absolutely. um so tickets are currently on sale. It will be a part of the New York Theatre Festival. So they're available on their website. um And also, if you go to the Archive of My Own Play Instagram, at Archive of My Own Play, um there's a link in bio to like ticket information, um ticket links.
00:22:27
Speaker
a little synopsis about the play and then also like clips of stuff from the reading so you can get a vibe and get a gist of what it's about. How long is the festival goes on during the The festival's three months and there's a lot of different shows going up and then on August 5th there's going to be an awards ceremony ah where like different shows are recognized in different categories.
00:22:56
Speaker
what the... um the have one big conceptual question as well, which I've been around,
00:23:11
Speaker
Why is there something rather than nothing? Yeah. yeah That's... you know, I expected this question. Yeah. i I felt this one coming. know. The titular question. Yeah. um I think...
00:23:26
Speaker
Because like, what's the alternative? Um, if we just have a life full of nothing, then like, what's there to do? yeah i i don't think that serves anyone. So I think we create something and we create meaning just so that we have some kind of semblance of purpose. Otherwise, like if we have nothing going on and no motivation, we crumble.
00:23:46
Speaker
yeah We need something to keep us going. Yeah. No, I, I dig that. I, um, is Within philosophy, I think about always with artists, like, you know, does the individual in some real way create a whole new thing, you know, out of some other place?
00:24:12
Speaker
But obviously, with the question... um What about where to find your podcast? I love people talking about it.
00:24:26
Speaker
Yes. Absolutely. um So it is at 6E next Tuesday on Instagram or 6E next Tuesday on
Podcast Availability and Platforms
00:24:37
Speaker
Spotify. Yeah.
00:24:39
Speaker
Yeah, that's where you can find us. On Instagram, we'll post little reels and clips from the podcast again, so you can get a gist of what the episode's like and what it's about, um and if you want to tune in.
00:24:49
Speaker
And then on Spotify is where we have all of the episodes. And also YouTube. We film it and pop a little video version on YouTube. Oh, you've got notes. Yeah, on Thursdays. So Tuesdays, the podcast drops as um ah per the title, and then Thursdays, we've got the video version.
00:25:07
Speaker
hey ah That's great. great Great work. It's been really nice to meet you. and Before like old and I it was mentioned to Australia, to the show ah and um Big differences that you experienced as stars were like work with theater or art in Australia and popped into the the glory or the belly that's the New York.
00:25:40
Speaker
Like, what's been your experience as an artist creating?
Artistic Opportunities in Sydney vs. New York
00:25:44
Speaker
create Absolutely. um I think in terms of like artistic opportunities and funding and stuff like that, um the thing like Australia V America or like New York V Sydney, New York just has like, cause the population's so big, there are so many more opportunities.
00:26:03
Speaker
Um, which I found like really great. Like there's so many like free playwriting competitions that you can submit to and then your play can go up. Um, But also, I think Sydney has like a very like small but very hard-working theater community who all know each other. So that like feeling of family and togetherness and like everyone trying to help build each other up is also like really important. And i like love my foundation there as well.
00:26:29
Speaker
um ah So like my long-term goal ah would be to be like multi-country artist and be able to do work there and also work here.
00:26:40
Speaker
Cause I think both scenes are great. Both scenes are very different. um I think Sydney like loves an independent theater scene and loves the, a drama, they also love a Shakespeare.
00:26:52
Speaker
um So it's like very classic, more serious theater over there on on the hall, whereas New York, there's definitely like a fringe camp kind of vibe. um So both very different, but both very fun. And i my heart is in both.
00:27:05
Speaker
Yeah. Well, thanks for the peek in everybody film, the kind of archive of my own. I'm very excited for them.
00:27:17
Speaker
um Thank you. I think about the summer. ah They finish up about a week before your birthday.
00:27:28
Speaker
Absolutely, yeah. And then the once already is the day after our birthday, day so that's but it's a very exciting time. Absolutely incredible. but um I hope to come in contact with the work.
00:27:40
Speaker
you know It's like the thing with hopefully someday you'll like why the live, the performance, the show. That would be incredible. Yeah. um Best of luck to the production, everybody. Thank I get lot of listeners in New York City and Environ, New York Theater Festival, Hudson Guild, Eve Theater.
00:28:03
Speaker
um and um It's been a great pleasure to meet you. So lovely to meet you and thank you so much for having me on ah <unk> It's a great pleasure. I keep on putting your podcast somehow missed out with my track research team. That's okay because my name is not in the title. Okay. My research team is me. What the heck was I supposed to take?
00:28:30
Speaker
Similarly, my podcast research team is also me, but mainly my co-host, he does most of the work. I get asked, well, why is going to rather come up and have that awkward style?
00:28:41
Speaker
But I've done more than that, so. Yes, you have. Annabelle, great pleasure to meet you. Lovely to meet you. Best of luck in the play. I respect you a lot more at the end.
00:28:54
Speaker
Thank you so, so much.
00:29:01
Speaker
and
00:29:05
Speaker
This is Something Rather Than Nothing.
00:29:15
Speaker
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00:29:40
Speaker
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00:29:55
Speaker
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