For most people, keeping a diary is a very personal thing. Capturing life’s key moments and events, inner thoughts, and keeping secrets never to be shared, even with your closest friends and family.
But Illawarra singer-songwriter Kay Proudlove bucks that tradition. Instead of closely guarding her teenage diary entries from prying eyes, she’s put it all out there, creating a hugely entertaining musical stage show Dear Diary, which returns to IPAC from May 8-11.
Kay wrote the songs at the height of the pandemic, using those long weeks and months where live performance was impossible, to dive into her old diaries and come up with a show Kay describes as "funny, cringy and emotional".
"I had no intention of doing a theatre show, but I wanted to perform all these songs I’d written in lockdown, so I applied for a MerrigongX grant and was successful," Kay said.
Dear Diary debuted in 2022 and local audiences loved it. With the ongoing support of Merrigong, Kay’s excited to be taking it on the road for a national regional tour, starting in Wollongong.
Kay says the 2024 version of the show is sharper than the original. "I’ve trimmed the fat and it feels like a really tight show now," she said.
Kay started journalling her life almost from the time she started to write but the material for Dear Diary comes mainly from her time living in Thirroul and attending Bulli High School in the early 2000s.
"It was hard to revisit some of those teenage years which weren’t easy, but as I kept writing I found the material for the songs was so funny, and painful, and emotional," Kay said.
"It was a fun songwriting exercise which has turned into a show which is full of storytelling, nostalgia. It’s cringy, it’s funny, there’s Spice Girls, there’s celebrity crushes. But it goes beyond that as well, looking at how messed up it can be to navigate the world as a teenage girl. Body image, alcohol, career paths. It takes a look at how these early experiences can shape the person we become and really dives into the things we choose to hold on to and what holds on to us."
Kay said Illawarra audiences will see a lot of themselves and their special places in the show. But will people also recognise themselves from Kay’s diary?
"I’ve had to change some of the names to protect myself and others from my teenage life. Seriously though, it’s about embarrassing myself, not anyone else," Kay laughed. "My friends have been very supportive. They learned things about me from the show and I’ve learned things about myself."
Kay is excited to be bringing her one-woman show back to the stage at IPAC, feeling more relaxed than at the time of Dear Diary’s debut two years ago.
"The first time I performed one of those songs, I was so nervous, and I don’t usually get nervous. But enough time has passed since I wrote those diaries that people do find the material funny."
Singing about growing up in Wollongong to a Wollongong audience might not be the easiest assignment, but Kay can’t wait for opening night.
"My parents haven’t seen the show yet because they were overseas when I first performed it. So they’ll be seeing it for the first time.
"It’s great performing in Wollongong when there are people in the audience you’ve known for a long time. They are my biggest supporters and my toughest critics, and I’m really excited to be performing again in my home town."
Dear Diary is on from May 8-11. Book tickets via Merrigong.
