OK I'M 40 SOMETHING

Dawn is a forty-year–old woman at the cross roads in her life. Suddenly without a home, parents, a job, and a lover she is forced to take stock of her life. In an attempt to pull the pieces of her together she engages in an activity she has never done before. Dawn starts to exercise. She trials the abundant myths of exercise on offer, and discovers the changes to her body and the changing relationships in her family.

In an empty space, a Swiss exercise ball and a costume that will reveal small sections of a body at a time, the actor in direct address, talks to the audience about the journey of her life. The play is a look at the way we compartmentalise parts of our body, and our lives. It is a humorous look at an ordinary body trying to live up to the extraordinary demands from our consumer society.

In 2002 I began the Professional Writing and Editing course at RMIT to work with tutor Peta Murray to study playwriting. As admirer of her work, and my experience in live theatre, I felt it was time to hone my skills in writing for the theatre. I have over 20 years experience in live theatre, cabaret and street theatre, and while most of the creation of that work was largely collaborative in nature, the study at such a unique course is an important professional development opportunity.