Stitches: Pre-Show Notes
Below is the transcript of the pre-show notes for the Adelaide Fringe 2025 season of Pearls.
There are two audio files available for this show, the recording of these pre-show notes and the recording of the program given to audience members at the performance.
The audio recording of these pre-show notes is available on my soundcloud here.
The audio recording of the program is available on my soundcloud here.
Pre-Show Notes: Transcript of the Recording
Hi, I’m Tracy Crisp, the writer, performer and producer of Stitches. I’ve written these pre-show notes to give you some added context to the show. The notes include general information about the production, followed by descriptions of the theatre space, the sets and props, my appearance and costume and the main actions and movements I perform throughout the show.
Show credits
Written and performed by Tracy Crisp
Directed by Tracy Crisp & Maggie McGinty
Show blurb
It's the annual stitch-and-b**ch competition. After years of coming second (plus the indignity of being banned from the craft section of the Royal Show), Tracy is determined that this year she will win.The only problem? She's in a creative slump and all out of new ideas. Then, with only an hour to go, genius strikes! Will it be enough to save her dignity and take home the trophy? A mostly true, slightly made-up story about women's friendships, middle age, and the way we piece our lives together bit by bit.
General information about the production
Stitches is one of six shows in my series of ‘memoir monologues.’ They are all solo shows (I am the only character and performer) and they are all a blend of standup, theatre and storytelling. Stitches was the final show I wrote and performed. While each of the shows stands alone, and they don’t follow a clear chronology, Stitches does reference being the final show in the series.
Each of the shows is based on a particular event of stage of my life. While some of the shows, such as Pearls tell the story of real-life events Stitches is one of the shows I call ‘mostly true, slightly made up.’ Throughout this show I will be finishing a new dress, sewn on my sewing machine while narrating the mostly true, slightly-made-up story of sewing my own funeral dress.
Stitches debuted at the Adelaide Fringe in 2024 and this is its first repeat season.
The theatre
For the 2025 Adelaide Fringe season, the show is being played in the Studio space at the Goodwood Theatre and Studios. The theatre is on Goodwood Road, on the corner with Victoria Street. During the fringe season, you will enter the theatre through a small gate off Victoria Street. Follow the path straight then to your right and into the foyer and bar area. There is a short ramp leading from the outside into the bar. There will be an announcement made when the doors are open and you will be invited into the studio space. The front-of-house staff will check your tickets. It is a 50-seat space and general admission. If you need assistance to find the best seating for your needs please ask the front-of-house staff and they will be happy to help.
When you walk into the room, the performance space is on your left. It is not a raised stage. The audience seats are to your right. The tech desk is in the corner immediately to your right as you enter. There are four rows of seats. The front row is on the floor and the three rows behind that are stepped up. All of the walls are covered in thick black curtains.
My appearance and costume
When the audience enters the theatre, I am already on the set, sitting at my sewing machine and sewing. I am mostly concentrating on the sewing, but occasionally talk to the audience to reassure them they aren't late.
I am short and my skin is white. My hair is shoulder length and brown with grey streaks. I am wearing glasses. My glasses are usually round, but sometimes I am wearing purple cat's eyes glasses. I nearly always wear a circular silver ring on the middle finger of my left hand.
I am wearing a tunic made of dark blue denim and underneath a t-shirt.In some performances the t-shirt is white and in others it is black (I can't decide which one I like best). The tunic has two deep pockets and two white buttons on the centre back. My shoes are cream converse sneakers with wedge soles.
The set and props
As noted, the stage is already set when you come in and I am already in place. The stage is lit with a soft golden wash.
The set includes a rectangular wooden dining table with four chairs, one on each side of the table. The table is positioned lengthways and the right edge (from the audience perspective) is angled slightly towards the audience. A sewing machine is on the table at this right edge. On the arm of the sewing machine is the garment that I am sewing through the show, a piece of calico which is mostly bunched up around the sewing machine.
At the other end of the table are some pieces of calico. Near the calico, there is also a white ceramic coffee mug and a mobile phone. There are some sewing tools on the table including scissors and a tape measure.
The chair closest to the stage is at the table, but turned slightly towards the audience. The chair at the left-hand edge of the table is also angled slightly towards the table. On the chair is a small pile of folded calico lengths. Hanging on the back of the chair is a small clutch bag.
To the left of the table from the audience perspective is a dressmakers mannequin. The body of the mannequin is oatmeal-coloured cloth, the base of the stand has three feet which are made of wood, with a metal rod attached the base to the body.
In front of the mannequin is a vintage cantilvered sewing box. It is fully extended on one side, and partly extended on the other. The draws have different sewing notions including some threads.
To the right of the stage and almost off stage, is a black music stand with an open sprial-bound document. There is text printed on the pages and the paragraphs of the text have been highlighted with coloured highlighter pens.
Action and movement
As described previously, I am already in place when you enter the room, sitting at the sewing machine and sewing. I am mostly concentrating on the sewing, but occasionally talk to the audience to reassure them they aren't late.
The house lights and the stage lights are a soft golden wash.
Once everyone is seated and the front-of-house person has closed the door, the lights dim slightly and I leave my seat to stand as the pre-recorded Welcome to Country plays.
I start the show by sitting at the sewing machine. Then, as I talk about going shopping with Mum, I stand, and walk towards the audience until I am standing centre stage. Soon after, when I'm talking about being at Amy's house I pick up the seat that is at the front edge of the table and place it in the centre front of the stage and sit. For most of the rest of the show I am either sitting in this seat, standing slightly in front of it or standing behind it.
The following list describes the key points of action in the show:
- throughout the play, when I am talking about my mum, I am usually using my left hand in an exaggerated way as if I am smoking;
- throughout the play, whenever I say 'memory music please' I move over to the music stand in time to the music, turn the pages of the script then return to where I was standing and gesture to the technical table to stop the music;
- at the moment when I am talking about using Mum's sewing machine for luck, I am standing back at the table, with my hand on the machine;
- when I am talking about being out for Roxanne's birthday drinks I return to the sewing machine;
- I have one scene of great animation. when I say 'excuse me while I finish this' and the action music starts playing, I do a small amount of sewing to finish the dress; I then take the dress of the machine, flip it inside out in an exaggerated motion, rush over to the mannequin and put the dress on the mannequin; when I say 'no pockets' I then take the bumbag from the back of the chair and wrap it around the waist of the mannequin; as the music stops I point dramatically to the mannequin, then look to the audience expectantly;
- as I describe my garment to my sewing group, I am standing by the mannequin with my arm around her shoulders;
- as I describe the ending that I had originally written I am making exaggerated gestures towards the audience such as pretending to hold the trophy high above my head and encouraging the audience to cheer;
- at the time of the incoming phone message sound I go back to the table and look down at the phone, then as the messages continue, I look back and forth between the audience and the phone;
- when I tell the audience that I'm going to start getting ready for tomorrow night, I move the sewing machine off the table onto the chair at the back; then I take the piece of folded calico, unfold it, start measuring and cutting the fabric; I then move towards the side of the table, then to the front of the stage as I talk about what I will do with the dress now that it is finished;
- there is a moment when the lights fade a little as if it is the end of the show, but I point to the sound desk say 'memory music please' and as I am talking I move towards the music stand, then make an exaggerated gesture to stop the music;
- when the music stops I return to the centre front of the stage to deliver the last story;
- in the final moment of the show, I make a highly exaggerated gesture, mimicking my mother as if she is taking one huge drag on her cigarette then blowing it into the air in an act of triumph;
- the stage lights are suddenly flicked to dark.
At the end of the show, as the music starts I take my bows, acknowledging the team who are there, in particular, the technician, Maggie the director if she is in the audience that night and my partner, Adrian.
I open the doors of the theatre and leave. As you leave the theatre, Adrian (or another member of my family) stands at the door giving a small packet of rock candy to everyone who wants one as they leave. The candy is rainbow coloured and is printed with the Sixology in the middle. I will be standing out in the foyer to thank people for coming.
Thank you for coming to Stitches and for sharing this time with me.
