Preview-Bun in the Oven-HKPFF
6-11-13
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By: Karen Cheung
“It’s a comedy, but it’s not as light as it sounds. Bun In The Oven is about the Hong Kong pregnancy experience…pregnancy is a short period in a woman’s life, but it’s meaningful and deep. It also changes your relationship with your friends, husband and yourself, which is what this play is really about,” says Gaelle Gognau Koerckel, who plays Audrey, the mommy-to-be.
In fact, Gaelle’s very own pregnancy experience is what sowed the seeds of the play in the first place. “The whole thing began when Gaelle got pregnant last year and started telling me all these funny stories…and I said, you have to write this stuff down!” says Meaghan McGurgan, director of the play. Gaelle and Meaghan then decided to submit their idea to the Hong Kong People’s Fringe Festival, and when they were given the green light, they co-wrote the play together and found Emma O’Rourke and Matthew Gillespie to join their team. And thus, Bun In The Oven was ‘born’.
In order to gain a variety of different perspectives, the team interviewed a lot of women about their experiences. “The play is based off me, so obviously the character is French, but I really don’t want it to be about just me – we want it to be more universal. A lot of scenes are based off different points of view, and we sort of blended that into Audrey’s character,” says Gaelle. They also watched a lot of movies to understand what the characters were going through – Emma recalls a scene described by Meaghan with such vivid imagery that it scarred her forever. “I remember this very, very vague episode of Rescue 911, back when I was like 7 or 8; there was this scene where the guys has to deliver the baby in the taxi, and they cut the umbilical cord with dental floss. So I put that into a line in the play,” Meaghan laughs.
What is it like Matthew Gillespie – a.k.a. Oliver, ‘the husband’ – to be the only male member in a girl power production? “I actually did a nursing round years ago and helped deliver a baby at one point, so I sort of had the whole medical perspective on this – it’s just really miraculous, and it is scary and wondrous all at the same. And for me, I see my character ride the roller coaster of pregnancy, being really affectionate one moment, and duck and defend himself the next – and at the end it’s all worth it - that’s kind of the beauty of a story like this.” Meaghan notes that a lot of dads and best friends in stories like these are often props, but the team was adamant on creating phenomenal characters with emotional depth. “Matthew displays a lot of soul and sensitivity – I think he’s doing a fabulous job.” Meaghan says.
Emma O’Rourke plays Vivienne, Audrey’s best friend. “I think my favourite scene is the birthing scene, where I am all for the natural birth, and I go on and on about how great it is, I talk about things tearing and dynamite exploding – it’s a completely over-the-top performance, and it’s very fun to do.” I also caught a hilarious line when Emma was rehearsing for a monologue before this interview: “What could I share with someone whose breasts are not a sexual attribute anymore but food? Yuck!”
But Gaelle points out that it’s not all rainbows and butterflies too. “After the delivery I do this monologue, and at the moment I cry each time I do it. People say that when you have a baby coming out of you, everything becomes blurry and you feel this sudden, instant love at first sight, but it doesn’t happen to everybody, and it certainly didn’t happen to me. But it does get you eventually – everything seems possible, when you realize you have a baby and it has a whole life in front of it.”
Why should you see the play? “Well, it’s funny, it’s insightful, and it’s only $100. Plus you get to see sexy girls in underwear doing scene transitions!” says Meaghan. The team reassures me that there’s something along the storyline that touches everyone; whether you’re a man or a woman, the mother or the person who’s having their facebook page taken over by baby pictures – you’d appreciate the production. “It’s not just about the baby.” The team does acknowledge, though, that the production is rather lady-centric. “I think young women who haven’t had babies would really like it, and I think women who have gone through pregnancy would think it’s funny. There is a bit of blue humor though, so you’d probably have to be a woman who enjoys sex and vagina jokes. It’s not for anyone under 15, definitely!” Hopefully the material won’t discourage the men from coming, because one way or another it looks like the audience will be in for a good night of laughs. The cast gave me a little preview of one of their scenes, and without giving away too much, the scene escalated from affectionate bickering to lovemaking and ended with Oliver shouting “I still think you’re sexy!” as Audrey threw up in the background.
Bun In The Oven will be showing at 8pm from November 25th to 27th, at Theatre Horizon in Tai Kok Tsui. Shows start at 8pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door or reservations can be made by emailing the team at buninovenhk@gmail.com. To find out more about the play and Hong Kong People’s Fringe Festival, visit the festival’s official website at http://pplsfringe.com/index.php/en/
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