The Heath Ledger Theatre is bloody beautiful part of the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia. And that’s where I went to see Carol, the new festive-themed play by writer Andrea Gibbs (she was also the brains behind Barracking for the Umpire, which I reviewed back in 2022).
Presented by Black Swan State Theatre Company, Carol explores the highs and lows of the holidays, through the often-overlooked eyes of an older woman dealing with grief and facing homelessness.
Pharmacist: “Are you okay with needles?”
Me, internally: Yes, I remember getting vaccinations at school and they would tell us to count to 10 to take our minds off what was happening, but I would literally watch needles go into all the kids’ arms as I was counting ’cause I’m a sadistic biatch like that.
Me out loud: “Uh, yeah, they’re all right.”
It’s okay, you don’t have to keep me away from your children. Though if you do, I’ll understand. 😜
Anyway, I got my COVID booster a week ago. (Moderna after two doses of the Pfizer vax — figured I’d hedge my bets. 😉) I’d planned to get my booster ahead of the reopening of the WA border — which was supposed to be February 5, but has now been delayed indefinitely. I guess I’m both sad and relieved about that.
Sad because it means people will be separated for even longer if they can’t get an exemption, with no knowledge of when that will change. And relieved because the “let it rip” approach to living with the virus disproportionately kills vulnerable members of the community.
Like I said in my last post, I don’t know what the right balance is. But neither do all the armchair epidemiologists who barely scraped through high school science. At least I know what I don’t know.
We’ve lived mostly mask-free in WA during the pandemic but I think they’re probably here to stay now. I don’t mind… they’re not the most comfortable things to wear, especially in summer, but I feel the same way about bras and I’ve been wearing those for most of my life.
In the not-too-distant future, I’m hopeful of flying away, staying somewhere well ventilated where I can chill bra-less, going out and buy supplies from fully stocked shelves (probably with a bra and mask on), and coming home to Perth without infecting anyone or forcing my family into isolation or quarantine. Whew!
But until then… we’ll always have these nutty blog posts. 😉
Well, it’s a brand new year and we’re now a good two years into the pandemic with no clear end in sight. During most of this time, I’ve been safely tucked up in my Western Australian bubble, but we’re set to open up to the world in less than a month and things are bound to change.
There’s a big part of me that’s super keen to open up. I want to hug people I haven’t seen in two or more years and see my favourite bands on tour. And I dunno, maybe roam about Salzburg wearing clothes made out of drapes. (Hey, I reference Star Trek and Star Wars a lot around here, so why not throw The Sound of Music into the mix?)
But I’m also aware that no jurisdiction has achieved the holy grail of no internal restrictions, no travel restrictions, a health system that is not overwhelmed and a strong economy. So it then becomes a question of which of those things you consider to be acceptable sacrifices. Different people have different values and priorities, which seems to be the source of most interpersonal conflicts.
I have mates working in the arts and entertainment who lose their income every time there’s a lockdown, capacity limits on venues or restrictions on events.
And I know people who didn’t choose their lot in life but are likely to die if they got COVID… and even if they were complete strangers to me, they’re still people, not just statistics with “underlying conditions”.
So I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know what the right balance might be.
But I do know this: Telling disabled, chronically ill and immunocompromised people that you’re sick of being inconvenienced and that they should just “not go out in public if they’re so scared” – as if they haven’t already been carrying the burden of society’s selfishness this entire time – is not an acceptable sacrifice to me.
If more people came to the same conclusion, maybe we’d get further in building an inclusive and accessible world that benefits everyone. I tend to be quite cynical and sarcastic, but I also want to believe that we can do better and be better than we are.
I’ve titled this post “New year, same old” but I would dearly love to be wrong in a good way.
Obligatory festive season post coming up, just as mask mandates are reintroduced in Western Australia.
I could say “Merry Christmas” but obviously not everyone celebrates it, myself included. (I don’t care if you say Merry Christmas to me though. Neither does any other non-Christmas celebrator I’ve ever met.)
“Happy Holidays” is a nice catch-all, but not everyone gets holidays or has a happy time during them.
“Season’s greetings” seems to cover it all but feels unnecessarily formal for most occasions.
So I’m going with “Live long and prosper” and “May the Force be with you” – because it is possible to love both Star Trek and Star Wars, and you totally should. 😉
Anyway, it’s been a pretty significant year for me. I published my first novel in November, and while I prefer not to be the centre of attention as a person, I’m proud of that damn book. Hopefully there’s more to come. 🙂
(You can give Black and Blue all the attention in the world, by the way. It is a book – an inanimate object – and therefore does not experience awkwardness or embarrassment.)
Looking towards 2022, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit anxious about the not-too-distant future. I’ll be eligible for my third COVID shot shortly before WA’s borders are set to reopen, but it’s not really my own health I’m worried about. (I’ll get that third jab as soon as I can though, that’s how I roll.)
Meanwhile, I’m still looking for a hand sanitiser sponsorship in the New Year. I don’t drink alcohol, but I’ve been rubbing it on my hands since long before COVID… so come at me, hand sanitiser manufacturers! Yeah, I know it’s extremely unlikely but a girl can dream. 😛
This will probably be my last blog post for 2021 unless something particularly amazing/terrible happens before the end of the year. For now… Live long and prosper and may the Force be with you. And also with you.
My review of Every Brilliant Thing — a funny play about depression, presented by Black Swan State Theatre Company — is now online.
Given the current state of the world, it’s also a very topical production…
Lee-Ann Khoh 