Interview with City Mag Adelaide

Clich HERE to read the beautiful, detailed interview I did recently with City Mag Adelaide. I share the fateful story behind my full-blown illness journey and how that very story now unfolds on stage live before an audience in Happy-Go-Wrong. This is a nice one.

“Illness has a powerful way of weeding the garden. At its most intense, my illness cleared out relationships, work, my arts practice, all my money, everything… leaving with me with a feeling of having nothing. I thought my life might be over, but it was precisely from this place of nothing that I started to see everything.

There’s a line in my show that continues to resonate: “Once you have the wisdom of death, you can’t go back… and why would you want to?” It’s funny how being thrown upside down can put you the right way up!”

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Feature in Broadway World

Broadway World has written an article on my solo show, Happy-Go-Wrong at Adelaide Fringe 2021.

“After the greatest 'accident' of my life - a tiny tick bite - turned my world upside down, I was surprised to discover that such soaring joy could exist alongside unfathomable struggle, to the point where I began to wonder if this accident was, in fact, no accident. As I continue to fight for my health, and seek out the happy in all the wrong, Happy-Go-Wrong is a lifeline that shines a light on the invisible battles that so many face on a daily basis. It is also my spirited way of saying thanks for still being alive.”

Check out the full article HERE.

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Writing Commission

I am proud to share my writing commission for Delving into Dance entitled ‘Dancing with Danger.’ It’s a poetic essay with art photography interwoven that gives the reader a behind-the-scenes peek into my experience as a performer living with an invisible illness. Shania Twain also gets a mention. Enjoy!

Click HERE to read.

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Happy-Go-Wrong makes several 'Best Shows of 2019' lists

Happy-Go-Wrong has found its way onto several ‘Best Of’ lists for 2019.

The show has been named an “indie highlight” of 2019 by The Age critic Cameron Woodhead in his reflection on memorable theatre from the year: “Happy-Go-Wrong laid bare the fate of an artist struck down by chronic illness.”

The show has come in at #7 (out of 199!) on prolific theatre critic My Melbourne Arts’ Top Ten Shows of 2019. “Happy-Go-Wrong drew the audience into the reality of living with a chronic illness and when Snelling sung her original song, “You Are Alive”, we were motionless, transfixed by a moment of pure emotion and truth.”

The show has also made critic Keith Gow’s Best Shows of 2019: “Andi Snelling’s very personal show about her own invisible illness that opens up a discussion about disability and the arts. Beautifully theatrical.”

And there’s also plenty of love for the show over at critic Anne-Marie Peard’s What Melbourne Loved 2019: “Happy-Go-Wrong was an incredibly moving and beautiful celebration of life!” “…a deeply personal story about invisible illness, without it feeling at all indulgent – an utterly mesmerising, moving piece of theatre.”

I feel very lucky!

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Happy-Go-Wrong

My exciting new solo show Happy-Go-Wrong will have its development season this May as part of La Mama Explorations 2019. This show is not only experimental artistically, but also physically for me with my chronically ill body. It’s my first time back on stage with a new work in years. I’m very proud. It’s a beautiful gem of a show which is driven by my own real-life navigation of struggle and mortality through my illness and the extraordinary resilience which us humans often don’t realise we have in us until we are put to the test. As is my Andi way, the show blends physical theatre with clowning and plunges deep into existentialism, while remaining a comedy with pathos. I promise you’ll have as much fun as you will meaningful reflection with this one! It’s on Fri 17th, Sat 18th & Sun 19th May, 7:30pm at The Burrow, Fitzroy and you can book HERE.

The show must go wr..on..g? (image: Darren Gill)

The show must go wr..on..g? (image: Darren Gill)

Frantic Assembly Workshop

Today, I participated in an awesome Movement Uncovered workshop, run by Frantic Assembly/Arts Centre Melbourne at Dancehouse. It was really great learning the physical exercises and techniques employed by the Frantic Assembly company. They're out at the moment touring The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which I loved. I learnt how to fly just like Christopher and really clicked with movement director Delphine Gaborit who gave me a lovely compliment at the end of the workshop on my performance style. This was the first time in a very long time that I moved my body again and it felt so joyous.

Me flying at the Frantic Assembly workshop! (Photo: Joshua Cowie)

Me flying at the Frantic Assembly workshop! (Photo: Joshua Cowie)

Clowning Around

I have recently completed a 6-week clown training course with the Melbourne Community Clown Troupe, headed by the fantastic Liz Skitch at Westside Circus. As a physical performer with loads of comedy experience, I took to this training like a clown to a red nose, literally. I find it so useful as a theatre-maker to experience many different performance styles and clowning is definitely a growing passion of mine. Sometimes, the simple and seemingly silly can reveal humanity on a scale far greater than any complex drama. This is why I find clowning so wonderfully deceiving in its power. 

Here I am in all my idiotic glory! (Image: Nayt Housman)

Here I am in all my idiotic glory! (Image: Nayt Housman)

Déjà Vu critical success

With several sold-out shows and wonderful reviews, I've now completed the Melbourne Fringe season of my latest solo show, Déjà Vu (And Other Forms of Knowing). Below are the reviews:

"Sublime to watch... An eerie and fascinating physical exploration... a truly original and exciting show." - Myf Clark,  Aussie Theatre

"Nightmarishly funny... with a special talent for mischievous humour. Déjà Vu is dreamlike and will leave you mystified." - Cameron Woodhead, The Age

"Truly beautiful... (Snelling) is never less than an engaging presence... It's like something out of Beckett; an Endgame for one." - Tim Byrne, Timeout

"Dance theatre at its best." - Anne-Marie Peard, Sometimes Melbourne

"Snelling is spellbinding... a master chameleon of movement, a physical provocateur,  - Jo Daly, Weekend Notes

"A spectacular performance... her acting talent is phenomenal." - Penny Stephens, Milkbar Mag

"Brilliant... a piece that allows the audience to take away different perspectives." - April Brenner, BCause Arts

"An exciting piece that will have you working from beginning to end." - Amber Bock, The Plus Ones

"Every scene is visually striking... Andi has such incredible control of her body." - Keith Gow

Image by Sarah Walker

Image by Sarah Walker

Déjà Vu (And Other Forms of Knowing) coming to Melbourne Fringe

My hotly anticipated new solo show is tearing up the rehearsal room and almost ready to go! Ticket sales have rocketed away, with Opening Night already 50% sold! After the huge success of #DearDiary - a show which is still on tour as we speak! - I am excited to be returning to my dancing roots and taking my work in a completely different direction. I've thrown out the pages and am diving body-first into my subconscious mind in this dark physical theatre exploration of all those things we only know subliminally. Through warped physical movement, I explore the realm of déjà vu where dreams and intuition collide. From smoke and darkness, a mysterious creature will emerge to draw you away from reality and into the vacuum of déjà vu. 

(Image: Sarah Walker)

#DearDiary Encore Season success

Once again, #DearDiary has enjoyed sell-out shows and further critical acclaim during its June encore season at The Butterfly Club. The Age's Entertainment Guide even featured the show in its Top 20 Things To Do in Melbourne. Click the links below to read some of the interesting articles and listen to radio interviews of Andi talking about the unique nature of the show and its extraordinary ongoing journey.

Schoolgirl's diary shared on stage via Herald Sun/Whitehorse Leader
#DearDiary in The Shortlist Top 20 via The Age
Five Pearls of Wisdom from Andi Snelling's Teenage Diary via Scenestr
#DearDiary Interview via SYN FM
#DearDiary Interview via WYN FM (click on 19th May)
#DearDiary Interview via The Australia Times
Meet Andi Snelling via Scribble Creative

#DearDiary featured in The Age's Shortlist of Top 20 Things To Do in Melbourne

New Project: That's Not a Daffodil!

I have just completed a week of Creative Development for a cute little show called That's Not a Daffodil! by Jump Leads Productions, directed by Gorkem Acaroglu. It's a stylised, physical show with songs and shadow puppetry, based on the award-winning children's book by Elizabeth Honey. There are plans for this show to go on a large-scale tour next year, so watch this space! Meanwhile, here's me in the lead role of Tom, a young boy who learns an important lesson about growing a plant.