Siobhan McMillan’s black comedy and modern fairy tale Mirrors is coming to Leicester Square theatre following successful runs at the Kings Head Theatre and the Rosemary Branch. Mirrors is a poetic exploration of narcissism and neurosis with inept vlogger ShyGirl. We caught up with Mirrors creator and actor Siobhan McMillan to find out more…
Funny Women: Tell us about your show Mirrors.
Siobhan McMillan: Mirrors is all about a slightly inept, totally naive 30-something lifestyle vlogger, ShyGirl, who’s really excited about her new ‘relationship’ with Mikey – who is very clearly using her. When he stands her up, in front of all her [30] followers, humiliated and alone, she downs a bunch of vodka and escapes into the way more empowered character Shivvers, a distant relative of Snow White’s stepmother. Shivvers possesses a magic mirror which assures her she is the most gorgeous woman in the universe, until one day it tells her she’s not…
A fabulous flight of fancy ensues during which Shivvers comes across all sorts of amazing women including the beautiful, sweet, perfect Bitch Face; the rich and successful Penelope; and a group of women addicted to chips and houmous.
It’s a really funny piece but it’s also got some important, current ideas in there: about the pressures put upon modern women – perfection, neurosis, competition – and our sometimes destructive inner voices; the masks we feel we have to apply for the world, especially when we also have this whole social media, deeply unfulfilling stuff to contend with.
Mirrors deals with all of that through the power of laughter and through connecting with audiences.
FW: What inspired you to write Mirrors?
SM: In the main, I was inspired by my own life issues and those of some people close to me, regarding self-worth, body image and the pressure to be ever-so successful and ‘perfect’ and how unfulfilling and destructive that can be!
As an actor, I ended up feeling pretty insecure much of the time and due to how I felt within the industry I felt I was focusing too much on superficial things like appearance, leaving little time or space to focus on all the interesting stuff I had to say.
Since 2015, when I first performed Mirrors – in a very different guise to how it is now – it’s been interesting to see how my relationship with the characters has changed. In particular the main character, ShyGirl, who was originally much closer to my actual off-stage personality. Now, I’m (hopefully) more well-adjusted…
It’s interesting, and perhaps a touch sad, to think that that used to be my general perception of myself and the world. Back then, I wanted to give a voice to all those aspects of myself that I felt I should hide away – being overly neurotic or embarrassing or scary. Instead, I now want to acknowledge those aspects of self, come together with my audiences and laugh about them and perhaps connect with people with shared experiences.
Let’s put more of our collective female energy into important stuff rather than going round and round in circles trying to banish our wrinkles and be ‘gorgeous’ for someone or other.
FW: Mirrors is described as a black comedy and a modern fairy tale, why do you think those two genres go so well together?
SM: I’ve always loved the whole fairy tale thing: the language and the characters. You can say so much while within this magical world where almost anything can happen, and be a little dark too. But at the same time, the fairy tale conventions create a kind of distance which is great for reflection and commentary.
I’m very interested in the whole princesses and witches and knights on white horses or whatever and how those images are created from an inherently male gaze. And when we turn those accepted and traditional fairytale images on their heads – in a very modern female way – the comedy comes in.
There’s also a lot of fun to be had with all that fairytale language and description and imaginative worlds which can transport an audience to these incredibly magical places. I like to intersperse all that poetry with lots of modern references – swearing and whatnot – to mess with the conventions. This juxtaposition often generates laughter.
It’s also pretty funny to see this apparently ‘terrifyingly evil witch’ creating all sorts of scrapes and difficulties for herself whilst on her journey.
FW: Who are your favourite funny women?
SM: My new woman crush is Bridget Christie. She’s so amazing! I love Kate McKinnon. She’s physically hilarious and is just so playful and uninhibited. To be honest the SNL women in general are pretty incredible. I still love Amy Schumer, the Broad City women: Abbi and Illana, Rebel Wilson, Amy Poehler is just such a boss and oh my god I wish Smack the Pony would come back!
Mirrors is written and performed by Siobhan McMillan and runs at the Leicester Square Theatre from the 28th March – 14th April.For tickets and more information click here!
