Van Badham

They say that laughter is the best medicine, and it seems that Van Badham would be inclined to agree. Theatre, meanwhile, has the power to act as a great empathy machine, and also as a thrilling escape from the drudgery of one’s troubles. Add some hearty laughter to that, and you’ve got the recipe for some brilliant catharsis.  It was the perfect execution of this delicate combo – discovered in a chance encounter with the work of Spanish Baroque playwright Félix Lope de Vega – that turned out to be a magic elixir for what was ailing Badham. The active author, playwright and social commentator has channelled all that into A Fool In Love (Feb 6 - Mar 17), a whip-smart new romantic farce that is kicking off Sydney Theatre Company’s 2024 Season in uproarious fashion. (We’re told that it’s going to make Sydneysiders feel “very seen” – you’ve been warned!) To give us a peek behind the curtain, Van Badham has interviewed herself for Time Out. Yep, it’s Van on Van.  Van: Van, why did you write this play? Me: Well, I really needed a laugh. My pandemic lockdown experience was brutal – I’d been undercover in a neo-fascist internet cult to write my book QAnon And On – not a lot of LOLs there – when my beloved mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I travelled back to the family home in Sydney to care for her and was there until she died. I was desperate to get my head back into a happier place, and I remembered when I was down on my luck in London in 2010, a friend gave me a ticket t