Actress Rachel Stockdale joins us on Close-Up Culture to chat about her one-woman play, Fat Chance.
This funny and politically powerful show explores Rachel’s true-life experience of weight gain from size 8 to 18, and the challenges she has faced along the way in her effort to carve out a career as an actress.
Hi Rachel! It is lovely to speak with you. Beginning with the broadest of questions, what inspired Fat Chance?
Fat Chance came from an encounter I had on my honeymoon. I’d been on a ridiculous diet for the wedding, I’d decided to have some white carbs on the holiday and, in a moment of joy, I decided not to wear any Spanx with my white maxi dress. We walked into a beautiful restaurant in Lake Bled and the waiter said ‘a table for 2? Soon it’ll be a table for 3, no?’ looking down at my belly. I froze in place with shock and then sat down and ranted at my husband about women’s bodies and people’s judgement of them and how you are always pressured to take up less space… Then I ordered a bottle of wine and text my friend and now dramaturg, Laura Lindow, a long stream of consciousness. She responded with a text that said ‘you have to write this play!’.
What was the writing process for this production like? Were there any major edits you found yourself making between writing and performing?
It has been quite an interesting process in that the play has been in my head for 6 years but it took me 4 years to get the funding. So, as I had been thinking about it for so long, it took a few weeks to write the initial draft. I took myself off to a cheap hotel for a couple of nights to write the beginning, as that was the hardest part for me and then Laura told me I had actually written 3 plays!! I streamlined it by centring my life story around the fatphobia I have experienced and then I had a research and development week at the ARC in Stockton, where I played around with the structure and received mentoring from the fabulous Dr Charlotte Cooper.
I got fantastic feedback from the Fat Performance Network after previews and our Edinburgh Fringe run at the Pleasance in 2022. Despite receiving multiple 5 and 4 star reviews, I didn’t think I had quite cracked the beginning and wanted to add a few things along the way. So last summer I sat down with my director, Jonluke Mckie, and we watched the preview recording at Northern Stage and I was able to watch it solely as a writer. I realised I needed to book end the piece with a completely different beginning, and I wanted to add another original song that gets to the heart of the piece. I also played around with how Rachel & ‘Stocky’ (my alter-ego) could interact with each other and added in 3 extra scenes whilst streamlining other sections.
As an actor, I realised this time around that there are certain points in the play that almost transcend time and space (I know that sounds very wanky, forgive me, I’m a writer now!) and that there are a couple of different timelines I need to track as both Rachel and Stocky, which helped bring the action to the here and now.
What the audience will see this time around is draft 9, so the play has been on quite a journey!
On a similar note, what was it like bringing this production to life?
It has been really cathartic to look back at my life so far and share it with people who see so much of themselves in it. The rehearsal process was intense, as we were adding lots of new elements and as a lead artist there’s a lot asked of you outside of the rehearsal room, you can’t focus solely on the performance, which as an actor can be frustrating.
In the current state of the industry as it is right now and as a benefit class artist, statistically ‘Fat Chance’ shouldn’t be happening. But this project has been put together with sheer determination from myself and so much love from a small team of freelancers that all really care about the piece. With a little bit of Arts Council funding and support from Northern Stage, we are touring the UK to sold out audiences for 6 weeks! There’s so much demand for it and it shows that audiences want to hear authentic stories from different perspectives.
You are currently touring with the show, heading back to London (26th – 27th April at Camden People’s Theatre) after opening here at Theatre 503. What are some of the best reactions you’ve received from the performance?
It’s really heart-warming when the audience interact and respond to rhetorical questions and then message me to say how the play has affected them.
Last night at the Torch in Wales, I said ‘I worry about being an unconscious fat woman in A&E. Who will advocate for my health if not me?’ And someone answered ‘I will’. I thanked them and tried not to cry! What a powerful response. I also had a woman walk out of the show during the scene ‘A Letter To My Body’. She then asked to see me after the show and explained that the show really affected her, she’s realised she cares too much about what people think of her body and now she’s going to go home and do the work. I can’t ask for anything more!
At a packed Alnwick Playhouse everyone responded to my question ‘do you know what I mean?’ with a loud and resounding ‘YES!’ and a giggle every time and opening night on International Women’s Day at Northern Stage was electric, so much so my Stage Manager Kylie had to play a few cues twice as I couldn’t hear them because of all the cheering!
Overall, I love that people laugh and cry at Fat Chance and the best reaction is when people tell me they’re not going to diet anymore. It seems to resonate with lots of different types of people. I think the show highlights the pressure we put on ourselves to look a certain way and everyone reacts to it in their own way.
Who would you say is your biggest influence in the art world?
I was very influenced by Tim Crouch’s The Author when I was a student and I was very affected by Caroline Horton’s Mess at Live Theatre many years ago. I’m also a big fan of Camilla Whitehall’s writing as well as fellow fatties Scottee and Katie Greenall’s work.
And if you could work with any playwright, alive or dead, who would you want to work with?
I’d love to work with Caroline Horton and I’m a big fan of Mark Ravenhill and Tim Crouch.
Where can people follow your work? And do you have anything you’re currently working on?
You can follow my work on my website www.rachelstockdale.com and everything tour related is at www.fatchanceplay.co.uk
You can also follow me on social media, I’m @rachelstocky on Instagram and Twitter and my Youtube channel (if you fancy some behind the scenes vlogs!) is The Stocky Actress: https://youtube.com/@thestockyactress?si=58Xl-EHCCktd2Dfp
Well… I’m officially unemployed from the 27th April! I’m available for all acting, writing and directing needs ha.
Jonluke McKie (the director of Fat Chance) & I are collaborating on another project with Debbie Beeks, exploring Class Confessions. We’re currently applying for funding, but expect more pop culture references, dark comedy and politics through a benefit class lens.
Finally, if you could offer one piece of advice to anyone currently struggling with self-confidence issues, what would it be?
Please treat your body with care and kindness. You have the right to body autonomy, you don’t owe anyone health and EVERY BODY is beautiful.
P.s fuck fatphobia!
