Share House - Big West Festival preview

If you've never lived in a share house, you've definitely missed out. Whether they’re bad or good experiences, they play a pivotal role in growing up and building relationships with people. Performed as part of the Big West Festival, Share House explores the relationships between ‘strangers’ that co-inhabit the same space.

Performed in a house in Seddon, each room has a housemate with a story and neurotic traits that make them impossible to live with. "The show is about living with strangers and how even though it is almost necessary in growing up in today’s world, its actually pretty risky business,” explains show co-creator, Mia Robinson. “We all take on really different extreme characters and explore the dynamics between three people that live together but don’t like each other and how vulnerable that can make people."

Having worked with fellow creators Ben Snaath and Sean Ryan previously, Robinson found the collaboration and creative process very natural. "We created our characters and structure using one or two experiences from our own share house living, tying the stories together and overlapping them. We also included sections of improvisation to keep it interesting for us as artists."

We've all had nightmare housemates (I'm sure I've even been one of them), and they are usually the ones that stick when thinking about share housing. "I used to live with someone that was crazy. She actually stacked up the entire kitchen in front of my bedroom door once so I couldn’t get in because I cleaned a cup and left it on the sink; I’m talking bins, oven grill, compost, pots and pans, EVERYTHING!" explain Robinson. "That particular story makes an appearance in the show. Bad situations make great art!" However my personal favourite of their experiences would be Ryan's attempt to ignore the drug deal come fist-fight outside his bedroom door. “That was bad,” he says.

On the surface, the stories in Share House may be funny and ludicrous, but there is a deeper meaning to what this show is exploring. "Hopefully people will laugh," Robinson says, "but maybe people will also have a deeper look at the importance of compassion and connection and the fact we are all humans fighting our own battles."

Venue: 243 Nicholson Street, Seddon

Season: 21 - 22 November | Sat-Sun 11am, 1pm and 3pm

Tickets: $20 Full | $15 Conc

Bookings: Big West Festival