Where to From Here: Pre-Show Notes
Below is the transcript of the enhanced program notes for the Adelaide Fringe 2025 season of Where to From Here.
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 Where To From Here? I’ve written these pre-show notes to give you some added context to the production. It includes 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 Maggie McGinty
Technical design and support by Adam Hawes
Show blurb
She’s on the trip of a lifetime: middle-aged, menopausal and forgotten to buy her onward ticket. Sitting in the station cafeteria drinking over-brewed tea and eating stale croissants, a stranger asks her: Do I know you? This simple question will change the course of her life forever. Written with humour and poignancy, wit and whimsy, it’s a Gen-X lament, a journey through time, and a middle-aged coming of age.
General information about the production
Where To From Here? is one of the six shows in my series of ‘memoir monologues.’ They are solo shows (I am the only character and performer) and they are are all a blend of standup, theatre and storytelling. This was the fifth show I wrote. However, each of the shows stands alone, and they don’t follow a clear chronology, so you won’t be missing any backstory if this is the only show you’ve seen.
Each of the shows is based on a particular event or stage of my life. Some of the shows, such as Pearls tell the story of real-life events while Where To From Here? is one of the shows I call ‘mostly true, slightly-made-up.’ That is, it explores a true stage of life, but I’ve made up a narrative to turn it into a story.
Where to From Here? debuted at the Adelaide Fringe in 2023. Since then, it has had some single performances, but this is the first return season. It had great reviews with four- and five-star reviews from InDaily, Glam Adelaide and Stage Whispers. The review in InDaily opened by saying, ‘The art of storytelling depends on two things Tracy Crisp has nailed: entertainment and believability.’
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.
The set and props
The stage is already set when you come in. The lights are on over the seats, and the stage is lit with a soft golden wash.
As with all my shows, the set is a simple one. In the centre of the performance space there is a round coffee table with two chairs, one on the left of the table, the other on the right. The chairs are Parisian café style, the frames made of wood and the seat and back woven from black and white strips. Both the chairs are angled slightly towards the audience.
The table is covered with a white tablecloth and is set for two people with a white tea set including a teapot, milk jug, two cups and saucers and two small plates. The small plates have the crumbs and small pieces of croissants.
The only other prop is a sheet of A4 paper. I pull this piece of paper out of my pocket when I tell you I’m going to read you a poem. It is folded when I bring it out of my pocket. I unfold it to read you the poem, then refold it and put it back in my pocket when I’ve finished reading it to you.
My appearance and costume
I am short (five foot two, 158 centimetres). My skin is white. My hair is straight, shoulder-length, brown with grey streaks. I have a fringe. I wear largeish round, brown glasses. I don’t wear much makeup, just mascara, foundation, a light blush and neutral shade of lipstick.
I am wearing a tunic made of dark blue denim and underneath it a t-shirt. The tunic has two deep pockets and two white buttons on the centre back. The t-shirt changes from night to night. Sometimes it is white, and sometimes it is black with a light silver sparkle woven through it. My shoes are cream converse sneakers with wedge soles.
Action and movement
General note on action and movement: I am a reasonably static performer and don’t move around the stage very much at all. For most of the performance, I am sitting at the café table in the seat which is to your right. While sitting, I do sometimes gesticulate with my arms and hands, and I am sometimes leaning back in the chair, and other times leaning forward.
The show begins with a recorded Welcome to Country. The lights are dimmed, but not blacked out. I am standing in the room just inside the door as it plays. When the Welcome to Country is finished and the intro music plays, I take my place at the café table, sitting in the seat that is to your right. The lights come up to a golden wash.
I stay in this chair for most of the show. The times that I move from the chair:
- When I am describing the station, I come to the front of the stage
- When I am describing the departures board, I move to your left
- When I am describing the bathroom, I move to your right
- When I am describing the truth about a colonoscopy I take my chair from next to the coffee table and move it the front centre of the stage (don’t worry, this isn’t too graphic!)
- When I am describing the left luggage room, I move to your left
- Describing my trip to Mitre 10 I am in the centre of the performance space
- For the final lines, I am standing in the centre of the performance space. The lights dim slightly when I am talking about my parents, then gradually fade back up until I reach the final line.
When the show finishes
The lights blackout after I have said my final line, then come up. 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 the team) stands at the door giving a small packet of rock candy to everyone who wants one as they leave. The candy is rainbow coloured. In the middle is printed the word 'sixology.' I will be standing out in the foyer to thank people for coming.
Thank you for coming to Where To From Here? and for sharing this time with me.
