Meet the Makers: Jodie Rimmer, Kathryn Burnett and Jonathan Burgess
Published: Monday 20 May 2024
In this edition of Meet the Makers we talk to Jodie Rimmer (In my Father’s Den, Filthy Rich) who plays Nicola Cheeseman herself, award-winning playwright Kathryn Burnett and sound designer Jonathan Burgess about their newest show Nicola Cheeseman is Back, by Plumb Theatre with the support of Auckland Live. Read on to learn about their arts practice, inspirations and what everyone can expect at Nicola Cheeseman is Back.
JODIE RIMMER
Nicola Cheeseman
Image Credit: Andi Crown
Iconic NZ actress Jodie Rimmer is a much-loved and recognisable face on our stage and screen. Jodie takes on her first one-woman performance in Nicola Cheeseman is Back.
Introduce yourself and your arts practice
Kia ora - I am Jodie Rimmer. My pronouns are she/her - I live here in Tamaki with my 2 sons and our dog, Hiwa. I started working professionally as an actor at the age of 12 and I have just turned 50! I love telling stories and creating work. I love devising, improvising and collaborating with good people.
What’s your favourite thing about what you do?
My favourite thing is probably discovering the character - all the yummy flaws and ticks that make a person complex and real.
What’s the hardest thing about what you do?
The hardest thing would be my mental and physical health. This is an uncertain line of work because our industry is small and with funding challenges so I have to work hard to mentally stay well in the dips.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
‘Always be creating’ and ‘don’t overthink’
What’s the best show you’ve seen this year?
I have loved a few shows but ScatterGun: After the Death of Rūaumoko would have to be the fave. So happy for Silo. They delivered and Ana was on beast mode. Awesome.
Who are your favourite artists/theatre companies/musicians etc. and why?
Plumb Theatre because they invited me to work with them on this cracker of a show Nicola Cheeseman is Back - I have been feeling so unseen and forgotten so I was deeply touched that they could see my value. Other artists I admire are: Pamela Adlon, Anna Marbrook, Ladi 6, Jen Cloher, Taylor Swift, Bianca Hyslop, Tama Iti.
Tell us about the show
Ever thought your life would end up somewhere else in life? This show is about a woman who is finding her voice again. It’s funny and deep, which is my fave combo for live theatre. It’s a lot of fun!
What can audiences expect from Nicola Cheeseman is Back?
You will have a bloody good time! It’s a little firecracker!
KATHRYN BURNETT
Playwright
Image credit: Amanda Billing
Award-winning screenwriter and the playwright behind the one woman show Nicola Cheeseman is Back, which was shortlisted for the Adam NZ Play Award in 2023.
Introduce yourself and your arts practice.
Hello, I'm Kathryn Burnett and I'm a writer. While I primarily write for screen and stage last year I penned a non-fiction book - The Productive Writer Guidebook and published a short story in the horror anthology - Remains To Be Told.
What’s your favourite thing about what you do?
I love working with words and ideas. And it makes me deliriously happy when my words move my collaborators or an audience to tears or laughter - it's this strange, magical thing that ideas ran around in my head, at some point became words on a page and then evoked emotion in other human beings.
What’s the hardest thing about what you do?
The nagging uncertainty about the next gig and the next paycheck. Working in the arts is wonderful but reliably unpredictable.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I have two pieces actually. When you are thinking about doing something significant, observe how you feel about it - when you imagine doing this thing do you feel deadened or energised? And this from a business tutor - "No doesn't mean no forever, it just means no right now." I wish someone had said that to me decades ago!
What’s the best show you’ve seen this year?
ScatterGun: After the Death of Rūaumoko
Who are your favourite artists/theatre companies/musicians etc. and why?
Too hard to choose favourite theatre companies! But Canadian company Kidd Pivot and The National Theatre in London are top of the list - the National Theatre Live events I've seen here are extraordinary.
If I have to choose favourite writers - all time favourites are Neil Gaiman and Kate Atkinson.
Musicians - at the moment I'm leaning into and enjoying the country gothic vibe of Delaney Davidson but my go to faves - The Breeders and The Smiths.
Tell us about the show
Nicola Cheeseman is Back is a comedy that follows a 50-year-old anti-heroine as she kicks hard against middle-age and all the obligations that come with it. Trouble is, she doesn't want to be middle-aged - she wants her old life back - the one she had in her 20s. Needless to say, things don't go smoothly.
What can audiences expect from Nicola Cheeseman is Back?
Some LOLS, some feels, some ace music and for audience members over 40 - the sense that they have been seen.
JONATHAN BURGESS
Sound design
Image Credit: Troy Goodall
A bass player and composer from Tāmaki Makaurau, Jonathan is the sound designer behind Nicola Cheeseman is Back, and is part of Stud Farm who have created all the original music for the show.
Introduce yourself and your arts practice.
I’m Jonathan. I’m a bass player. I’ve spent many years as a session musician for a range of artists, and playing in shows with Silo Theatre and Auckland Theatre Company. These days I write and perform dad punk with Stud Farm and occult doom with Demons of Noon.
What’s your favourite thing about what you do?
Music is all about live performance for me. I’ve reflected a lot on what the point is of making music in an age when such vast quantities of music are created and released every day. And I reached the conclusion that the communal experience of music is the most important thing, which is what draws me to visceral genres like doom metal, and writing and performing with my friends.
What’s the hardest thing about what you do?
It’s difficult to make art in the modern world. I work a day job, so it takes a real effort to not just lie on the couch in the evening, and to push through and create something. Luckily, my wife is a talented actor with an incredible work ethic, so she inspires me to get off the couch. And I’m also lucky to have close friends to collaborate with.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Josh Homme once said that “when you expect anything from music, you expect too much. So you play for yourself, you play to enjoy it and you make the most of it for you, period.”
What’s the best show you’ve seen this year?
Getting to see Mr. Bungle at the Auckland Town Hall was an absolute teenage dream come true.
Who are your favourite artists/theatre companies/musicians etc. and why?
I’m a big fan of iconoclasts like Melvins, who have been doing their own thing for decades. I love artists who have grown and changed over long careers, like Nick Cave, and the artists that are redefining heaviness, like Emma Ruth Rundle. Mark Lanegan is my favourite singer, and ‘Minerva’ by the Deftones is the song that I can’t just listen to once. For Nicola Cheeseman is Back, it’s been fun returning to the influences that made Stud Farm pick up guitars in the first place: bands like Green Day, Blink-182, Pixies and The Breeders.
Tell us about the show
Nicola Cheeseman is Back is a one-woman show about a 50-year-old having a mid-life crisis and getting her punk band back together. Plumb Theatre commissioned Stud Farm to imagine The Cherry Slits, Nicola’s band. In Stud Farm we sing about the glorious lows of middle age, so this was a perfect artistic match. Kathryn Burnett has written a hilarious and touching script, which is a goldmine of inspiration for songs.
What can audiences expect from Nicola Cheeseman is Back?
Jodie Rimmer was born to play Nicola Cheeseman. You can expect to laugh your way through her journey back to herself, perhaps recognise something from your own life, and rock out to Jodie’s renditions of The Cherry Slits’ back catalogue, in all its glory.
