Interview: writer/performer Ellen Waddell

Bristol writer/performer Ellen Waddell tells Steve Wright about Jean-Luc Picard and Me, her moving, comical look back at the removal of a father figure from a young girl’s life.

Jean-Luc Picard and Me is a comical coming-of-age story about how the philosophical musings of the wise captain of the Star Trek Enterprise helped me coped with my parent’s divorce, my Morris-dancing new stepmother – and my fetish for mentally imbalanced men. 

The show explores the link between my childhood Star Trek obsession and my somewhat dubious, though never dull, adult choices. I tell my tale with a PowerPoint presentation and a delightfully crap papier-mâché head of Jean-Luc Picard.

I cover my whole life in less than an hour. It’s entertainingly snappy and covers, among other things, what happened when I tried to launch a Star Trek fan club, how I avoided being a grown-up for seven years, and my stint as touring musician in an ‘indie famous’ band.

I was inspired to write the show after receiving a slew of positive responses to a blog I wrote about the therapeutic nature of science fiction. I had written about how I coped with my parents’ Kramer vs Kramer-esque divorce by watching Star Trek, all the time. Some kids picked drugs, horse riding or getting off with boys called Bradley in fields near their house: I chose The Next Generation.

My Star Trek obsession made me a very odd child, but I chose that particular show because it was the thing my dad and I bonded over before he moved out, and when he was gone I didn’t have anyone to watch it with (or, indeed, a male role model to turn to). I turned to Jean-Luc Picard because I thought he was all I had.

We moved to Bristol – Totterdown, specifically – when I was 16. After uni in Cardiff I was back here. I started out living in Southville, and now I’m in Cotham.  I love both sides of the river equally, although I do miss my local pub The Hare in Southville.

As a writer/performer, Bristol is a wonderful place to be. There’s a hugely supportive community who watch each other’s work and offer advice and guidance. Bristol also has a huge amount of venues, including a plethora of cafes and pubs that double up as event spaces, so there is always something to see, and somewhere to try scratch work out. There are also some fantastic arts festivals in Bristol, from In Between Time to Ausform, so the quality of work is high (a good bar to aim towards), but also diverse and inspiring.

My work straddles the awkward line between stand-up and performance, so I also see comedy shows for inspiration. Luckily Bristol has plenty of great comedy nights, like Chuckle Busters at The Wardrobe, where you can see local and national acts for £5 as well as regular events at The Little Black Box, Smoke and Mirrors and The Portcullis.

I hadn’t done much theatre before this show. I played bass in a band called Los Campesinos! for seven years. Then, when I moved to Bristol I started reading out my short stories at Small Story’s night. I got some really good responses and this, combined with the amazing theatre I saw, convinced me I should try and put together a show about pop culture as therapy. In the end the show sort of just fell out of me.

You don’t need to know Star Trek to enjoy the show. The show explores how our relationship with our parents influences our decisions – but it is also exceptionally silly. I would like to leave the audience with a feeling of catharsis, like that feeling you get after a good cry, and more accepting of whatever their own ‘Star Trek’ is. The thing that makes them a little bit odd.

Jean-Luc Picard and Me runs from Wednesday, February 11 to Thursday, February 12 at the Alma Tavern Theatre. For more info and to book tickets, visit http://almataverntheatre.co.uk/theatre/what-s-on.html