Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, wholly original musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes. But according to Aurelie Roque, who plays Alison Bechdel in the show, it’s also not really a musical—more like play with songs. It’s not a comedy, not quite drama, possibly a tragicomedy? But one thing is for sure: it’s like nothing you’ve seen before.
“This isn’t quite a play, it isn’t quite a musical—it’s both and it’s neither. It’s a memory play with songs. It’s non-linear. It’s its own entity—it sits outside of everything and it’s quite incredible.”
Fun Home follows real-life queer graphic novellist Alison on a journey into her own history. After her father dies unexpectedly, Alison dives deep into her past to tell the story of the volatile, brilliant, one-of-a-kind man whose temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, Alison relives her unique childhood playing at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her own sexuality, and the looming, unanswerable questions about her father’s hidden desires.
As Aurelie mentioned, this show is non-linear so her role involves watching a lot of her character’s memories as younger versions of Alison (Small Alison and Medium Alison as they’re referred to in the script) experience them. It’s been a very different acting experience for her.
“It’s really hard to not have a scene partner!” she says. “I’m not interacting with others, I am not really narrating the show, I’m not breaking the fourth wall. This is Alison talking to herself, and talking to her dad after he’s passed while she is creating her graphic novel in her studio.”
There’s a lot of active listening to be done, as Alison watches the action unfold, which Aurelie says is a tricky part of the performance in itself. “The focal point has to be the scene so I have to watch what is happening in character in a way that holds the audience’s attention to what’s unfolding. I have to be subtle but always in character, and give the moment what it deserves.”
In terms of playing someone who not only exists but is still alive today, Aurelie says she’s been doing a lot of research. “Alison was very adamant that everything had to be accurate,” she explains. “I don’t just mean in the show, I mean in how she perceived her memory, even in the graphic novels—nothing was there as filler. It was how she remembered or researched—it had to be.
“It’s very cool to read through the script and see these as actual conversations that would have most likely happened in the way that you’re hearing it.”
So how does she make sure she gets the character as accurately as she can herself? “YouTube is your friend, and you take in everything from everywhere you can and then, you sort through and piece it together.
“I try not to imitate everything—like how she moves her head or hands—but I listen to what she has to say, how she says it, what her story is. Going back to the graphic novel is actually a really great jumping off point, because Alison was so adamant about how accurate it had to be. So I can stem from where she began this story. If you see the ending and the beginning, you can hopefully flush it out a bit more.”
And although this is a queer story, Aurelie says it’s not strictly about being queer. “It’s the story of a woman’s coming out, but also her relationship with her father and her family. This isn’t just a coming out story, it’s a universal growing up story with a parent who loved you but maybe didn’t always tell you and had their own problems and challenges and was just as human and fallible as you were.”
She says says she hopes audiences take from the show what they need from it. “This is looking through the window of someone’s mind,” Aurelie says. “Not every story has a happy ending, not every story has a sad ending so while it has a lovely finale, Alison’s story is not finished yet. She’s still out there among us.
“This is the type of show experience where you can take away from it whatever emotion you need. There are very funny, uplifting moments, there are some really tragic moments—it’s a tragicomedy.
“It’s not just a show, it’s a reflection of life, and how unfair it is and how funny it is, and how full of love and laughter and sadness it can be. It’s truly something special.”
FUN HOME
August 29 to 14 September
Wednesdays to Saturdays, 7:30pm
and Saturday 2pm matinee
You can buy tickets to Fun Home here.
PIP Theatre: Savoir Faire, 20 Park Rd, Milton QLD 4064
In her spare time, she likes long walks down the makeup aisle and performing in Brisbane theatre. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and TikTok @thebeautypalate.
