A “hopeless romantic” on the Chichester stage
Maria Ansdell describes herself as a hopeless romantic, and you can see why when she makes her debut at the Chichester Fringe on Thursday, June 11 at The Havana with her Closure Cabaret (20:30-21:30), a one-woman character comedy with the tagline “Time to hold on tight as we try to let go.”
Maria is Razmatasique, the ever-optimistic maître d’ of love, resurrecting past lovers in a quest for closure. In her solo clown show, she plays the entire raucous line-up – pirates, rappers, cowboys and illusionists.
“Parading as my semi-autobiographical alter-ego Razmatastique, I’ve transformed my exes into cabaret stars for the evening – and you get to decide who were the dreamboats, the drips and the dangerously unforgettable.”
Tickets on https://www.chichesterfringe.co.uk/event-details-registration/closure-cabaret
Originally from Oxford and now based in London, Maria explains: “After a break-up I just thought that there was enough material from that particular relationship and previous romantic-type mishaps to generate some kind of catharsis because I know that I just can't ever really get over people. It's that thing where you wish that you could see your ex one final time so that you could say what you wanted to say, so that you could go back and deliver this great eloquent final speech and speak your truths! But at the time it is difficult. You're looking back through rose-tinted specs…
“And also I just wanted to host a cabaret. I've always wanted to be an MC for a kind of cabaret hidden world. I've always been very inspired by vaudeville and early 20th-century cabaret tradition. All of this has been very informative for me and I just thought that I would combine the two for a cabaret. I wanted to be the MC in my own space and to bring back ex partners or people that I have fancied!
“The show makes it sound like I have had a bunch of relationships and I really haven't. It is about people that I've had romantic glimmers with or people that I have noticed but haven't even noticed me right the way through to a serious relationship. But also I've always enjoyed playing male roles. Some of my favourite roles growing up have been males, people like the Artful Dodger and Uncle Fester. I find it very freeing to dress up as a man!
“I play everyone in the show. There are six characters and there is a lot of creative licence. They may have been inspired by real people but I've taken big leaps of departure so that nobody would ever think that it is about them.
“It's all about heartbreak but at the same time it is a love letter to love. I'm deeply sentimental about literally everything. I want it to feel cathartic for people that have had heartbreak, for people that want to feel a shared experience but at the same time I have been told that it's quite a hopeful show. It is an odyssey of heartbreak but at the same time there is still the possibility of future love.
“It has evolved with my own life. I call it semi-autobiographical. It was inspired by a deep heartbreak but since then there has been somebody that features in the show that was very transformative in terms of finding love. He lives in Australia now but he did a wonderful lifting out of the dark patch for me so he has to be in the show for that reason.”