Pilots Take Flight - In Conversation with Martelle Simon-Green
“You’ll be taken on a journey of love, why we choose to love, why we fall and why we choose to get back up.”
In 2022, Backbone welcomed three young artists into our Pilot Artists in Residence program. The offer was simple, but life changing: work with Backbone for 6 months as an artist in residence and get paid to create the first development of a brand new idea. Now all of that hard work is coming to fruition with the opening of Backbone Festival this Friday the 28th of October, where our Pilots take centre stage.
Martelle Simon-Green is one of our Pilots, who has been working on her new contemporary theatre work, Pierrot.
We had a chat with Martelle to dive deeper into her experience, and what to expect at Pierrot as it opens for preview on Thursday the 27th of October…
Tell us about the experience of seeing Pierrot…
Pierrot is profoundly silly and profoundly sad. Nothing in between. You’ll be taken on a journey of love, why we choose to love, why we fall and why we choose to get back up. Pierrot’s yearning for the moon knows no bounds, and you will get to see just how far he will go to love and be loved in return.
Why did you make this work?
I made this work to transmute feelings from my heart to yours. This is my first solo project (loose term, I have an incredible team) in several years and I had an inexplicable need to share. The longing and unrequited love speak to a feeling that I know many people experience - a homelessness of souls, nowhere to place the love we feel. I see myself in the character of Pierrot, I see myself in his stories and I see Pierrot in all of us. More specifically, I wanted to show why we chose to go back to love and longing, even if we know it is not fruitful or good. We choose it because we would rather feel yearning than nothing at all.
What has the Pilot experience been like for you?
The Pilot experience has been undoubtedly life-changing. To be a young artist in the current artistic and economic climate is a hard slog and Backbone’s Pilot Residency shone light on a new way forward. As an artist, I was supported in every facet by the Backbone leadership team and industry mentors to create the art that I wanted to make. As a Pilot Artist, I was privileged to attend several masterclasses led by industry professionals, the learning from which I will take with me into the rest of my career. I simply cannot overstate the necessity of programs like this for artists in this climate: paid part-time work to create new art, while supporting a vital arts organisation. I feel very lucky to have been a part of this program and look forward to supporting and being supported by Backbone into the future.
What are you most excited for at Backbone Festival?:
Honestly, I am extremely excited to release Pierrot into the world, but I’m most looking forward to seeing the work of my fellow Pilot Artists, Howling Jackals by Micach Rusticelli and Sad Boys Luv Art by Baby Blue (Dakota Hannington). Having seen their work grow from pitches to fully fledged works of art, I feel immensely proud of their journeys and will absolutely revel in their successes. I’m also hanging out for Again, You Have Trusted Me by Sarah Stafford. Sarah is a pillar of comedy and performance here in Meajin so I can’t wait to see what she has been working on.