As far as CVs go, Michelle Law’s is pretty darn
impressive. From scripting and starring in her own
SBS web series, Homecoming Queens, to penning a
sell-out debut stage play, Single Asian Female, all while
writing for various publications and co-authoring the
book Shit Asian Mothers Say with her brother Benjamin,
Michelle’s probably what you’d call a wunderkind –
which is all kinds of glamorous. But before she was
a leading lady for SBS – indeed, before she’d even
decided to become a writer – she was Gollum.
“It was this weird adaptation of The Hobbit,” Michelle
explains of the production, which she performed
with a friend during primary school. It was also the
Brisbane-born writer’s first exposure to theatre on
a community level. Her first glimpse of professional
theatre? “That was Les Mis,” she recalls. “I was eight,
and our whole family got dragged along by Ben. He
was really into theatre at the time. I was like, ‘Is this
going to be something where they sing the whole
thing?’ Ben was like, ‘No, no – there’ll be actual
dialogue.’ And of course, they sang the whole thing.”
It didn’t turn Michelle off musicals, however. She’s
actually got a musical theatre-style opera in the works
right now (a collaboration she can’t reveal too much
about at this point). The other projects she has in
motion are theatrical, too, which is rather different
to writing for the screen. “With screenwriting, once
your screenplay is submitted, it’s out of your hands.
But theatre really champions the playwright. When
we were doing edits for Single Asian Female, the team
was like, ‘Oh, we want to change these words – is that
OK?’ I was like, ‘What? Why are you asking me? That’s
fine – just do what you want!’”
For those who’ve had the chance to see Single Asian
Female – and there have been heaps, from schoolkids
attending theatre on their own for the first time, to a
certain elderly gentleman who shared a Tupperware
container of salty plums with the audience in Sydney
- it’s been an insight into what it means to be single,
Asian and female at three different stages of life. “When
the play went to Sydney, I was a bit scared about how
people would respond to something that’s effectively
a big hug,” she admits. “When it sold out, I realised
people just want a play that appeals to their humanity.
That’s what people want to experience.”
PhotoCarine Thévenau