Friday, September 12, 2014 Follow us on Twitter @Argus_The Guide Comedienne Katherine Ryan talks about Glam RoleModel, coming toMonmouth Savoy


Contemplating fame and fakes


WITH Katherine Ryan’s new touring show, Glam Role Model, her audiences can be assured that they will encounter a come- dian who enjoys healthy debate. With many stand-ups, you feel


that they’ve arrived on stage armed with all the solutions to every problem in the world and with no chance that they’ll be de- flected from their chosen course of opinion. The UK-based, Cana- da-born comic and actress is just a different breed altogether. “I’m not preachy in any way. I


don’t even pretend to have all the answers and I make a lot of mis- takes myself,” she insists. “Back home, we didn’t have glamour models; we had porno magazines and thenwehad main- stream actresses and presenters. Here, that line is so blurred and glamour models are put in such positions where they are sold as personalities, but their entire personality is just about getting naked or being drunk in the Big Brother house.” As someone who worked as an


18-year-old in the Toronto branch of Hooters (a restaurant chain known for its scantily clad wait- resses), Ryan recognises that there are different career paths out there. “I was a product of the society that said women are for decoration and I do think girls should be able to do whatever they want. Yet, across the world there are girls who just can’t; some can’t even go to school in


Interview


Nigeria without being abducted. Here, you actually have a choice to put your t*** away. And, well, maybe you should.” As well as tackling the public’s seemingly unquenchable thirst for the minutest information on celebs such as Harry Styles and Cheryl Cole, Glam Role Model has her discussing motherhood, the real difference between Miley and Beyoncé, and some frank ma- terial about sex and body politics. Ryan gained a reputation for someone whose onstage persona was a wide-eyed innocent being broken apart by a spiky edge. Her stage success (she has three Edinburgh Fringe shows under her belt now) has led to TV roles in Channel 4 university comedy Campus, and Matt LeBlanc’sBBC vehicle, Episodes, while those who saw it are unlikely to ever forget her take on Nicki Minaj which got her into the final of Let’s Dance For Comic Relief. Ryan seems pretty content with


her level of celebrity. “Mathemat- ically it would seem harder to get success because everybody has the opportunity and access now, and so fame actually becomes less likely. Fame doesn’t really work out for many people; it’s nicer to just think that we are all contributing.” The relentless pursuit of celeb-


rityhood which arrived with the explosion of reality TV and the new kind of talent show carries its own inevitable dark side. “People don’t realise that put-


ting yourself out there, whether it’s as the most popular girl at school or the weirdo (and I have been both), makes you very vul- nerable and more likely that peo- ple will attack you in some way. “I’m so lucky because I actu-


ally take comfort in people not liking me; I think it’s lovely that we all like different things. When people come after me on Twitter, it’s fine: why would I expect eve- ryone to like me? I do think it’s a bit weird that you would go out of your way to tell me how much you don’t like me, though.” Her tour poster shows her glammed up with cans of lager. “I don’t understand people say-


ing ‘oh I was so sick, I missed my entire weekend’. It’s really not cute. “It’s something I’ve noticed


with young girls. You see what is presented in the media; they have beautiful hair but it’s fake and beautiful lips but they’re fake; eyelashes: fake; nails: fake, tans: fake. They’re putting all this stuff on the outside and on the inside they’re drinking a lot and eating fried chicken on the bus. “I just have a different view to- wards wellness, life’s much hap- pier if you look after yourself.” Catch Katherine at Monmouth Savoy on September 27.


It’s ‘medication time’ at Oval Basin


MUCHcelebrated travelling thea- tre company, Footsbarn, present their original adaptation of Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuck- oo’s Nest at Wales Millennium Centre this September. Performed in the company’s


travelling theatre tent in Roald Dahl Plas (Oval Basin), Cuckoo’s Nest will combine puppetry, masks, music and projection to offer an imaginative interpreta- tion of Kesey’s cult novel. Set in a psychiatric hospital,


One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a touching and timeless criticism of authority. The pro- duction explores the original novel’s deeper themes through Footsbarn’s creative and dis- tinctive style, offering a unique performance that is thought-pro- voking, funny and deeply atmos- pheric. Paddy Hayter, Footsbarn’s Ar- tistic Director, said: ‘For us, the original book is a fable. It’s about a man who has lost his identity through pressure to conform, and who eventually frees himself. It’s about what rules we should follow, what is reality, what isn’t reality. It’s a wonderful text, and one I’ve wanted to do for 25 years. It’s got a great theme, a human


7 Theatre


Chance to dance in the chorus


PANTO FUN: the cast of Dick Whittington


ARE you aged between eight and 16 and fancy joining this year’s panto chorus cast for Dick Whittington at The Riv- erfront, Newport? Open audi- tions will be on Sunday Sep- tember 28, with registration 10am- 11am. The Riverfront is looking for talented youngsters who can sing, dance and act – particu- larly young street-dancers. Once registered, you will be asked to dance, sing and act small sections in front of a small panel. The pantomime will run


FUNNY LADY: Katherine Ryan


from December 2 until Janu- ary 4. If chosen, you need to be able to attend rehearsals in November and be available throughout the whole run.


Saturday11th


October8pm Beaufort Theatre, Ebbw Vale,NP23 5QQ


DRAMA: Footsbarn’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest


theme, it has comedy, it ends in Greek tragedy… it has every ele- ment that you need.’ Graeme Farrow, Artistic Direc-


tor at Wales Millennium Centre said: “Footsbarn are legendary travelling theatre company who create uniquely magical shows in a beautiful tent. I presented the company in Belfast and children and adults were equally enthralled


by their production of A Midsum- mer Night’s Dream. Footsbarn’s arrival in town is an event in it- self.” Footsbarn will be showing in the


Oval Basin, outside Wales Millen- nium Centre, from September 18 to 20. Tickets are on sale from £14. For more information or tickets, please call the box office on 029 2063 6464, or visit wmc.org.uk


“Simplyput,Zerdin is theman who


can make Ventriloquism look cool” _TheStage.Suitable forages15+


www.blaenaugwentvenues.com 01495 355800


Tickets£16.50 BoxOfice:


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