The Supposed to Be at Footscray Community Arts Centre
4 June 2026 in Melbourne, part of RISING festival.
It's felt like a struggle to find interesting theatre of late. For the last few years, I've been a bit put off after experiencing some patronising, preaching-to-the-choir productions, and it's been hard to find things that are clearly not going to be like that. Good news though, things are improving now.
The Supposed to Be is about a woman, Kavitha, who has reached middle age, lives a corporate life and gave up on her creative self decades ago. As a girl she and her mother migrated to Australia from Sri Lanka, and as a young adult was pressured by her mother to abandon her dream of being an actor.
Kavitha is using a service that lets you clone yourself so that your clone can live the life you dreamed of. You can surreptitiously observe your clone but you're not allowed to meet. Of course, they meet.
Kaye is Kavitha's clone, an aspiring actor who makes money on the side performing on OnlyFans (or something like it). Whether she is streaming or auditioning, she's continually being asked to perform as a South Asian stereotype. It is not exactly creatively satisfying.
There are really three characters in the play. Kavitha explores her past and her acting talent by playing her—their—mother. They rehearse the same scene over and over to try and find the authentic version of the moment when Kavitha left her creative self behind.
The play was very, very funny and the performances were excellent, especially the actor playing Kavitha who continually slipped into her own and her mother's character.
It was such an interesting premise and felt so relevant for us, who have reached middle age and are actively seeking and tending to our creative sides. The migrant experience aspect of the play wasn't so personal for me however, having been subject to laissez faire Anglo parenting.
It was also nice to be back at FCAC. It's been a while. I like the art showing in the lobby gallery space at the moment (such as in the photo, Nine Views: Toyota Corolla 1979 by Vin Ryan).
