Understanding ourselves through stories
Girls in Boys' Cars follows Asheeka and Rosa, two funny, sharp, adventurous young women who end up on a Thelma and Louise-esque road trip in Western Sydney...
There’s an interesting line in Girls in Boys’ Cars that talks about the character’s family being from ‘everywhere’. It’s a sentiment that resonates deeply with Ziggy Resnick.
Resnick, who will perform in the production at Riverside Theatres in October, said her family is also from everywhere.
“Both my parents are immigrants,” she told The AJN. “My mum’s side is Greek, but she grew up in the Congo, and my dad is from Johannesburg, but his family is from Lithuania. I’m often told to pin down where I’m from. I think people don’t really understand what it means to be from everywhere.”
Resnick said no matter what activity she was doing as a child, she enjoyed making people laugh, which is how she got into acting.
“I remember being in a play and fluffing the line one night. But then I improvised around it,” she recalled. “And I got this big laugh from the audience. I remember dancing my whole life and singing. I was never good at ballet, but I liked that everybody thought I was funny. I swear I did ballet for 13 years because I was the funniest one there.”
The thing she loved most about Girls in Boys’ Cars is making theatre about young people, for young people.
“For me, working with young people making theatre for young people, is so important. Clearly, there isn’t a space and there isn’t a nurturing of young voices or young makers. And for me, this story is for young people in a really nuanced, complex, character-driven way,” Resnick explained.
“It’s a female-led story and I think it’s so integral. Not enough thought is put into the people that are going to be coming into the theatre and making this space safe, interesting and accessible for young people. I think this addresses [these issues] on a main stage.”
Girls in Boys’ Cars follows Asheeka and Rosa, two funny, sharp, adventurous young women who end up on a Thelma and Louise-esque road trip in Western Sydney, landing Rosa in juvenile jail living her life through books and wondering about her best mate, who has disappeared.
While Resnick acknowledges that the characters don’t necessarily do the ‘right thing’ in Girls in Boys’ Cars, she hopes audiences feel the sense of magic that theatre can bring.
“The power of theatre is that it takes us somewhere else for that moment, and I think this play does a really amazing job of following young women’s impulses, almost this [thought of] ‘what I would do, what I could do, if I just pushed it further’,” Resnick said.
“I’m definitely not condoning the actions of the characters. You know, the main character is speaking to the audience from juvie. But, for audiences to go into the magic of that, and to feel [those] ‘human impulses’ with us, I really would love to transport people to what we think is possible for young people.”
Resnick explained that a big part of the production is storytelling and how, as humans, we’re constantly in pursuit of understanding ourselves through stories, whether that be our own stories or those of somebody else.
“Theatre really gives us space to sit and this show really supports that in every aspect,” she said. “It’s an ancient craft, and it’s arguably dying, and it’s the young voices, the new ways of making theatre and the ambitious approach to theatre that is going to ensure that theatre continues to change, and evolve with the times.”
So after Girls in Boys’ Cars, what’s next for Resnick? She describes her next project as her “whole heart” – a play called Pear Shaped, which she says is “a semi-autobiographical play about culture, food, eating disorders. It’s magical realism. It’s about sisterhood, and it’s comedic in the way that Jewish comedy is.”
Girls in Boys’ Cars is at Riverside Theatre, Parramatta from October 19 to November 3. For tickets, visit riversideparramatta.com.au/whats-on/girls-in-boys-cars
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