Rosie Peters-McDonald, Print Deputy Editor, interviews Devon-based performer and theatre company co-founder Cristina Varga
Cristina Varga is a Plymouth-based performer and the co-founder of Everything But Theatre, alongside Danni Watmore. She visited the Exeter Phoenix on March 28th with her comedy show, Close Enough. Inspired by her experience moving to the UK from Romania in 2019, three months before Brexit, the show makes light of her journey, “tell[ing] the story of what it was like for [her] to face a different culture and to adapt.” She adds, “it’s a comedy that shows the differences between cultures and what it’s like to be a foreigner in the UK, something that, especially at this time, is important to hear about.” Exeposé spoke to Cristina about her creative processes and how she navigates the modern creative arts landscape.
“It’s a comedy that shows the differences between cultures and what it’s like to be a foreigner in the UK, something that, especially at this time, is important to hear about”
Cristina Varga
On Instagram, Cristina markets her show through comedy reels; some of these show her eating and feature a casual mention of the show, while others take us behind the scenes to rehearsals and her theatre company admin. “I’m trying to get out there as much as I can,” she told us. This hasn’t always come naturally to her, though: “It’s been years of my friends and people who come to my shows telling me I need to put stuff online, and I struggle with that. I feel exposed, I feel seen, maybe judged, but I feel like I need to accept that, because this is how the world works nowadays. If you’re not on social media, no one’s gonna know that you exist and what you’re doing.”
Her company’s name is a tongue-in-cheek play on the pressure of the modern theatre industry, which she says really does feel like everything but theatre: “as artists nowadays, you need to do literally everything but your actual job. You need to learn so many things.” Engaging with potential audience members on Instagram is part of how she approaches this, although she emphasises her anti-spoiler approach: ‘I don’t want to ruin the experience for people, but I still want to give them the feel of the show.’ When her company started, she said, she “used to be everything: the producer, the stage manager, the tech, the performer, the writer.” Now, though, she’s “very happy” to say that her “friend and colleague, Danni, is taking over the assistant producer role.”
Exeposé asked Cristina whether she thinks part of her show’s charm is in its element of surprise. Her response was undoubtedly fuelled by her own experience as an audience member. “I know myself,” she admitted. “When I’m an audience member, I just enjoy seeing things for the first time. I hate spoilers – I don’t want to know anything. I usually don’t even read what the show is about. I just go and watch it and allow myself to be surprised.” She added candidly, “the audience’s experience is the most important thing, although it is a hustle to get people to see the show. I don’t know how I’m doing but I feel it’s difficult to convince people that your show is worth it.”
“…the audience’s experience is the most important thing, although it is a hustle to get people to see the show. I don’t know how I’m doing but I feel it’s difficult to convince people that your show is worth it.”
Cristina Varga
Cristina is honest about the trials and tribulations of narrowing down the show’s demographic and finding the right audience. Ultimately, though, she seems to believe that there is no right audience: “It sounds terrible, but it is for everyone. It’s not easy, when you’re trying to market a show, because the better you know who it’s for the better you know how to bring people in, but we want to keep it open and hopefully it will work.”
Close Enough isn’t generic about British culture. Cristina has lived in Plymouth for years and identifies predominantly with the culture of the South West when it comes to her experience of the UK; her tour will cover Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall. She suggests that the show’s narrative is both relatable and personal. The idea came from a song she wrote while studying at the University of Plymouth: “It came out of nowhere. […] I had that song in mind, and I thought, what is it that I can share from my own life experience? What is it that might be interesting for others to hear? I started writing stories and I shared them in our classes, and I got really good feedback. I continued to work on the idea and stories just came up.”
Cristina has lived in Plymouth for years and identifies predominantly with the culture of the South West when it comes to her experience of the UK; her tour will cover Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall.
The show originated as Cristina’s dissertation project. After a year earning more life experience outside of university, she returned to it, this time with a conclusion in mind: “I came back to it, and […] I knew what I needed to talk about. It’s a big responsibility, to be on stage in front of people and to ask them to buy a ticket to see something that you’ve created. It took a long time, the creative process.” Despite being comedy, Cristina feels Close Enough is still representative of real life, telling us, “I don’t believe in happy stories that are happy all the way through. Life has ups and downs, and that’s how a show should be as well.” Those ups and downs weren’t the be all and end all for Cristina, though, who recognises how far she’s come since she started writing it.
Despite being comedy, Cristina feels Close Enough is still representative of real life, telling us, “I don’t believe in happy stories that are happy all the way through. Life has ups and downs, and that’s how a show should be as well.”
“Looking back, five years later, I can see that [some] things are just an episode in the whole series of my life. Sometimes it’s just an episode that you need to get through.”
