Chiara Fumanti, writer and producer of The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer at the Voila! Festival, tells us more about the show.
“Ever wondered what the person next to you is thinking? Silly question, I know you have! Then join me, Arthur, through the depths of an ordinary person’s mind.
Eva is just like you. Rocky relationship with her mother. A 6-year-old son. A bastard ex-boyfriend. A job. An interview for a better job. Football lessons to pay.
But thinking is not linear. I know that for sure. I can be sweet. I can be punchy. I can be intrusive.
With the use of balloons and a healthy dose of violent language, we’ll explore the consequences of trauma in a surreal drama that will shift your concept of normality.”
Where: Barons Court Theatre
When: 13-14 Nov
Ticket link: https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/events/the-extraordinary-life-of-a-rat-racer/
Tell me a bit about your show. Where did the idea come from?
Before even thinking about putting this show on, I would often ask myself – although I know it’s silly – “what if somebody could read my mind? What if Edward Cullen is undercover on this train and I don’t know?”.
Then I thought that it would be interesting to follow a person’s thoughts on a very ordinary setting, such as a commute. So after a while I started writing down my thoughts – those same thoughts I was so scared somebody might somehow mindread.
I thought that although mind-readers don’t exist, I could sort of transform myself into one, and give the audience the chance to be one too.
I am no stranger to mental health issues, and as a writer, I have always drawn from my personal experience and culture, with my work mainly focusing on displacement, mental health, and the fine line between fiction and reality.
The idea that reality is nothing if not a multitude of different realities has always peaked my interest. So, with The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer, I saw the chance to blend all of the above together.
It’s a story that very much straddles the line between imagination and reality (in multiple ways!), it connects with my culture without necessarily being about that culture, and the duality between the reality of the everyday context Eva’s in and Eva’s brain’s reality is evident.
Although there is (thankfully) a lot of talk and awareness around mental health at the moment, somewhere along the way there’s been a glamourisation of various mental health disorders, which has resulted in the loss of some of their grittiness, real ugliness, and authenticity.
The Extraordinary Life of a Rat Racer aims to scratch way below the surface and show the ugliest, deepest parts of a person, those that are often concealed out of shame or fear of judgement – both by the outside world and by the person themselves.
More importantly, it highlights the normality of those parts, the ordinariness of horrible thoughts, and therefore aims to empower those who might feel at a loss in the battle against themselves.
To tell the truth, I had initially envisioned it as a film, with a still camera shot on the protagonist on the tube staring into nothing, interlaced with shots of what she was thinking about.
However, after giving it more thought, Andrea – the other half of Stage Leftovers – and I agreed that an intimate theatre setting would probably be more fitting to the story we wanted to tell.
We want the audience to feel uncomfortable, to feel the pain that our protagonist goes through. The immediacy and unfiltered nature of theatre provides that in a way that I don’t think film can.
It was also a decision driven by need: both me and Andrea wanted to get back on stage. As migrant artists, we have both struggled to be seen in mainstream theatre. And what better way to be seen, than telling your own story in your own way?
Why should audiences choose your show? How would you sell it in one sentence?
I’ll use our tagline: Ever wondered what the person next to you is thinking?
If the answer is yes, then you have no excuse – you’ll get the chance to explore somebody’s mind, to see the darkest parts of a person; and let’s be honest, who isn’t fascinated by the macabre?
However, don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of laughs and lots of balloons! Although be careful, they might pop…
What does being part of the Voila! Festival mean to you?
A chance for my voice to be heard. Also, the confidence that making new theatre from scratch is not the impossible dream that is often depicted to be. Sending the application to Voilà! and committing to putting this show on has reshaped my approach to my career in a life-changing way.
Stage Leftovers is born out of an idea that has been brewing in my head for a few years: that of creating an “accent-blind theatre”, a space in which migrant actors and creatives can feel represented by playing characters which just happen to be from somewhere out of the English speaking world, instead of being relegated to niche work because of their accent.
We both have first-hand experience on how tough and lonely the entertainment industry can be for artists in a foreign market, and therefore we want to help create an industry that gives more opportunities to performers whose first language is not English, pushes for inclusivity and innovation, and reflects the multi-cultural society in which we live.
Voilà! Festival is, and has been for a number of years, pioneering this idea, providing an extremely important space in an already saturated industry for artists that would otherwise most probably struggle to showcase their talent and their voice.
We believe that the whole theatre industry should follow suit, and we want to be part of the change. We are honoured to be part of this year’s festival!
How did you make a start in the industry?
Theatre has always been a part of my life. Growing up, back in Italy, I used to go to English classes after school. However, in those classes English was often taught using theatre: my very first show was The Little Mermaid, with book and songs in English. I played Scuttle.
Then, after high school, I met Andrea [Guerini, director and performer] on a production of The Rocky Horror Show – I was cast as Janet and he was cast as Brad. I then moved to London, (Andrea followed a couple of years later), trained in Musical Theatre, and have been here ever since.
I have worked in Fringe Theatre before, went up to Edinburgh in 2018 as part of the cast of Sweeney Todd, and now regularly work in children and community theatre, which I love.
Writing has also always been a huge part of my life, although I never thought I could actually pursue it as a career until I got accepted on a Creative Writing MA during Covid. And here we are!
Andrea got into theatre in high school, back in Italy. His older brother also went to the same high school and had done a couple of shows with the high school’s theatre group.
So, during his first year of high school, Andrea joined the theatre group too, but it unfortunately shut down after just one show.
That was that, until one fateful day Andrea ran into the former theatre group’s director, who told him that they were opening up a new theatre lab, if Andrea’s brother was interested in joining. Andrea showed up instead of his brother, and the rest is history.
What’s next for the show?
Onwards and upwards! My plan is to keep bringing it to more fringe theatres, but our final aim is Edinburgh 2026!
Our Crowdfunder is now live, so if you’d like to support us on our journey (and we’ll love you forever for it!), keep an eye out! You can also follow our Instagram.