crew interviews
emmett aster (he/him)
director & playwright
a mandurah/binjareb based writer, producer and performing artist, emmett has spent the last six years building a reputation for vulnerability and sensitivity in his work. he first broke onto the arts scene as a musician and poet, where he was praised for his raw and authentic writing style, and has been proving himself ever since: recent theatre writing credits include five-star productions ‘promethe(us).’, and ‘heartbeat.’ (perhaps, a theatre company).
emmett believes that storytelling through the arts is incredibly powerful, not just as a catalyst for social change, but also in understanding and caring for ourselves and others. as the director of ‘perhaps, a theatre company.’, he is dedicated to providing opportunities to other regional artists, telling underrepresented stories, and utilising his skills as an interdisciplinary creative in order to create innovative, multi-modal theatrical works that blur the lines of theatre.
what has been your favourite part of working on ‘all the stars.’?
i think my favourite part so far has been the auditions! the script has been in progress for a very long time, and actually getting to see it brought to life for the first time felt like the start of something magical. the fact that there were other queer people who resonated with the characters that have existed solely in my brain for years, and that i could see that in their performances, is something i will never get over.
if you were to pick one song to describe ‘all the stars.’, what would it be?
‘the ghost’ by anna b savage. i have playlists for andie and tessa and this is the only song on both of them. i think it does such a good job of capturing the feeling of being unable to outrun a relationship; of being trapped in a present still haunted by your past. also, the line ‘stop haunting me, please’ is in both the song and the script!
how has your experience of queerness shaped who you are?
so completely and incredibly. my queerness has been defined, i think, by a profound loneliness and alienation that is inextricable from the person i am now. that experience is me and i am it. there is a quote by bell hooks that defines ‘queer’ “as not being about who you’re having sex with… but queer as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it and has to invent and create and find a place to speak and to thrive and to live.” i think that sums up who i am as a result of my queerness better than anything i could possibly come up with!
which character says your favourite line from ‘all the stars.’?
andie says “i know what i want, i’ve just never been able to say it.”. writing that line felt like a realisation: a lifetime spent ashamed of your desire warps your relationship to it completely. it was all i could think about for a few weeks afterwards.
who do you relate most to; andie or tessa?
andie, although both are absolutely self-inserts. andie was written as a means to explore my relationship to lesbianism and womanhood while i was beginning to come to terms with my trans-masculinity, and i owe the character a lot in that. also, their approach to conflict and their emotions is… unfortunately quite me. i would like to think i’m slightly healthier, though. ideally.
if you could give any advice to your young queer self, what would it be?
the joy of being queer is that there are no longer any rules and you have the opportunity to redefine everything you’ve been taught about what it means to exist in the world – but that is also where a lot of the pain will come from. your life and your identity do not have to be palatable to cishet people, and they do not have to be palatable to other queer people. the community of people exactly like you that you are waiting for doesn’t exist, but there is freedom in that. no matter how much it hurts, you do not and should not have to shape yourself into something that is easier to understand.
who is your favourite couple who is doomed by the narrative?
i want to say something cool and pretentious to flex my literature degree but my actual answer is marvin and whizzer from falsettos the musical. hands down.