In Conversation with Nathan & Clea – Love Stories
In this edition of In Conversation, we shine a light on Love Stories—a new show by stop drop + roll theatre company, premiering at The Blue Room Theatre from 1 – 5 July. Through music, installation art, animation, and contemporary performance, Love Stories is a sensory journeys of all kinds of interspecies loving and grieving, from our backyard to the cosmos. We caught up with Nathan & Clea to dive into the creative process behind the work and what audiences can expect from this thrilling new production.
What motivated you to apply to be part of The Blue Room Theatre’s 2025 season, and what drew you to this project?
Nathan: The Blue Room Theatre is a fantastic avenue for independent theatre makers to both develop and present their work, and I thought the 2025 season was the perfect opportunity to finally start developing the idea I had. The idea behind Love Stories largely originated after reading ‘Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction’. This idea of understanding our climate crisis through sound, song, and sonic diversity was something that really interested me, and so the idea around a show centred on listening grew.
How has the creative journey been so far—from concept development to rehearsals?
Nathan: It has been really fruitful to see my initial ideas be taken to places I never would have gone myself, which is the magic of collaboration. It’s also been this balancing act between allowing the work to naturally evolve and shape itself, whilst hanging on to the central ideas that interested me in the first place.
What has stood out to you during the rehearsal process—any unexpected discoveries or moments of growth?
Clea: We’ve had some really satisfying full-circle moments in the late stages of rehearsals. In the early stages of the devising and development process, we made discoveries that got sidelined for a while as we put our attention elsewhere. Lately though, scenes and images from the first days of development have naturally arrived in the finished work, without us even realising. We genuinely went “oh, that’s what we made months ago in that experiment”. I think it speaks to how we as a team allow the work to reveal itself to us through devising, rather than trying to fix things in script and structure too early. We’ve always intentionally allowed space for the natural growth of our work, but it’s a sign of growth as a team that it happened without our paying attention.
What does having your show programmed in The Blue Room Season mean to you as a lead creative?
Nathan: It means so so much to have my work programmed at The Blue Room. I have never directed a work before outside of University, and so being given this opportunity to have some of my ideas realised is something I am very grateful for. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for emerging theatre makers to develop and present new work, so this opportunity is such an essential step for me in my growth as a theatre maker in Boorloo.
As you move closer to opening, what are you most excited—or even nervous—about sharing with audiences?
Clea: We are excited about so many moments in the show, and we can’t wait to see how audiences respond. But I would say that we are most excited to share with audiences all the wild and wonderful butterfly facts that we have learnt for the show!