Ruby McCollister
'New York downtown legend' (Time Out) RUBY MCCOLLISTER (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Search Party) presents Tragedy, her one-woman show exploring her life-long addiction to making her life as tragic as possible.
Tragedy talks all things dead actresses, drug addiction, ghosts of Shakespearian actors, Los Angeles, fame and obsession, while singing gothic songs! This show will take you to the spookiest mountain: guaranteed laughs, tears and revelations!
You gave an amazing quote in an interview with Big Issue: "If you were raised in a theatre, you have no choice but to be obsessed with the saddest aspects of humanity." Where does this come from? What happened in your life or childhood to lead you to this conclusion?
Theaters are spaces where lots of people's dreams are housed and where people express the most extreme aspects of the human experience if you will, aka Theater. The combination between hanging around with actors, watching actors and being in the space where all of this happens- you find yourself processing all of this through looking directly at the underbelly of things. You just do- its just how you process it.
How do the themes in your work specifically explore the female experience? How has womanhood impacted your creativity?
A large part of my show is about tragic women that I idolized and attempted to emulate my life around. I believe many women do this. House a team of tragic women in their minds that they idolized. We all have our favorite tragic women. This is integral to womanhood. Its nearly inexplicable why it is integral but it is inarguably.
Perhaps because these stories of tragic women's lives offers us a warning signal? or an alternative lifestyle? Or perhaps we enjoy to see someone fall apart because their story reflects the knowledge that it’s just so impossible to LIVE! I don't entirely why. But I know we all have these wild specific relationship with our own unique tragic figures. I mean hell - EVERYONE has a relationship with Marylin Monroe for god sakes! It’s inexplicable, its fervent, its eternal. And it's linked to womanhood. I can't quite crack the WHOLE theoretical code in this interview BUT my show is an investigation of this instinct within myself. I go before the fire- so you don't have to!
Could you describe a specific moment in TRAGEDY that feels particularly satisfying to perform? Are there any bits, jokes, or lines of dialogue from your show that really encompasses the feeling you're giving us?
I love to perform the beginning of my show every time. It’s the lead in, and its heaven.
What are you working on after TRAGEDY? What's next for you?
I'm returning to New York and working on a whole host of things. And honey- YOU'RE GONNA DIE FOR THEM. STAY TUNED.
Can you tell us about some other female-driven shows you've seen at Fringe this year that you would recommend checking out?
Slash by Leah Hennessey and Emily Allan & Exquisite Lies by Greta Titleman
Photos by David Monteith-Hodge