Key Points
- Matt Bostock was a finalist in the 2021 AACTA Sony Pitch Competition.
- He is a Filipino Chinese Australian creative having recently graduated with an MFA in Writing from NIDA
- Slanted Theatre is a 2-and-a-bit-year-old theatre during which they have worked with over 100 Asian Australian artists.
Matt Bostock is a product of two cultures. His mother is a Filipina and his father is of Chinese descent. He spent a huge part of his formative years in Singapore where he felt right at home, not any different to the people around him. He was surrounded by many things familiar to both cultures and he didn’t feel the needed to fit in.
The title 'Short Blanket' is from a Filipino saying 'When the blanket is short, learn how to bend' (Kung maikli ang kumot, matuto kang mamaluktot). A lesson on Filipino resilience as learned from his Filipino mother. Credit: from M Bostock
The big shift
When his family moved to Australia, everything changed. He was no longer surrounded by things familiar to him, he began to see that he needed a bit of a push to be heard.
'Short Blanket is a searing examination of tokenisation, representation, and the ethics of selling stories in places that are seemingly never ready for them.' emerging playwright Matt Bostock. Credit: from M Bostick
He found this to be true when he was completing his Master in Fine Arts in Writing at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art). He was one of four people of colour out of a cohort of ten. ‘I remember meeting a graduate from an earlier program and he came up to us and said we were apparently the most diverse year out of that iteration. He thanked us, he was the first in the program and said there were only a handful of people of colour down through. We all had to navigate that institution as people of colour’ shares Matt.
That experience according to Bostock of navigating the institution and in general has opened his eyes and has been very important in writing the play ‘Short Blanket’.
Maikling Kumot -Short Blanket
Filipinos have this saying, ‘kung maikli ang kumot, matuto kang mamaluktot’ literally translates to ‘if the blanket is short, learn how to bend’. Often spoken in times of challenges and hardship by Filipino elders. When he was completing the play he asked his mom if he was able to convey the meaning of the phrase into his words, his story. His mother replied, ‘spot on’.
It is about learning to navigate through your circumstances not only learning to survive but to thrive.
The story revolves around a Filipinx writer Lainey. “Set in Australia, the play follows the story of Lainey, an emerging Filipinx writer, who is finally given her big break. However, with production resting on an industry showing, Lainey has to learn the difference between telling a good story and putting on a good show’ explains the Filipino-Chinese author.
Our voices but not?
Matt explains that while the Australian art scene has a variety of stories focusing on the migrant experience, it is almost always tailored to what the mainstream dominantly non-Asian audience wants to see. The challenge he says is to be able to present the narrative from an Asian perspective attracting the mainstream audience without losing its authenticity; his voice.
He explains ‘I think it is incredibly important, to me I view theatre making, art making, storytelling as a form of truth-telling. We tell stories to speak to people to connect to people, to tell them what’s going on and what’s happening. It allows people to open up to what’s going on through the characters. To all new different worlds and experiences. Especially in telling our stories; Filipino stories and not just making it a watered-down version of that.’
For Matt Bostock this story is a story about Filipino resilience, resisting to be shaped the way others want you to be shaped but creating your own path, your own story ‘or trying to at least. That‘s part of the struggle. When you are telling stories and when it is about your community, your family, your culture, grounding it to that. That’s why you can't stop, you have to make a stand. That’s why I’m doing that and that’s why other great Filipino artists are still going at it, because this is our life and we want to tell people, hey, we’re here. And hopefully one day we don’t have to talk about this.’
Short Blanket, is produced by Slanted Theatre Company, debuting at Meraki Arts Bar from the 17th of May to the 3rd of June.
A message from the writer: We are well aware of the contradictory nature of having a token white male character in this show.
