.png)
ED Fringe 25' | Behind the Curtain: An Interview with Centre of the Universe's Gaia Mondadori
- Harry Brogan
- Jul 28
- 5 min read
Firstly could you introduce yourself and could you tell us what Centre of the Universe is about?
Hello dear reader (and future audience member), my name is Gaia Mondadori and I am an actor and writer. I have performed a number of self-penned plays at fringe theatre venues, made my own short films, written for a range of mediums and acted in films and TV.
Told through the perspective of Mary, the show examines the ways in which we may hide from pain and seek to be defined by the glory of material success. A seemingly normal teenager with no discernible talents, Mary believes that she is destined for greatness and refuses to be defined by the death of her mother. When an iconic TikTok influencer Gabriella Dios visits her school, a burning need for success is ignited within Mary – she will be a star.
Led by the signs she believes she is receiving from the Universe, Mary forges her own path to greatness. From hosting her own funeral to dropping out of school to cleaning bins and making love to her anger, there is nothing Mary isn’t ready to do to prove herself. But at what cost? Centre of the Universe invites audiences to look outwards and question what we value as success.
How did the show come about? And what was the inspiration behind the show?
Before I say anything I must tell you that I wanted to make a show that felt fun and honest. So if you like to laugh and ponder then come along! I wrote this show out of a need to make sense of the great mystery of why we are all here…Are we here to climb and climb and make it to the top? Or are we here to connect? Mary’s fear of being nobody - a tiny grain of sand in the immensity of the cosmic order - is the fear that the age of narcissism and spectacle thrives on. When you win that award, buy that holographic ferrari, reach that summit, then you’ll be significant. You’ll amount to more than the collective.
You’ll be enough…whole…at peace…seen. Right? I am often inspired by a range of materials and artforms from paintings to poetry and myth to the natural world. I keep filling the well and then leave it up to the Universe for something to be drawn out. I've just been reading ‘Orbital’ by Samantha Harvey which offers such beautiful musings on the peace we can find in realising how tiny we are here on Earth and the power of connection.
Centre of the Universe is a coming-of-age show, and is set in the modern day world with technology and social media. How are you making this show appeal to audiences?
Initially I was quite averse to exploring TikTok because it felt like it sat in opposition to what the show and Mary are trying to do - connect and break free from their bubble of loneliness.
But actually TikTok and social media is a form of connection but (news-flash!) ironically it also separates us. I’m personally not on TikTok so I have had to research some of the aspects that rule Mary’s life such as aura points. It’s fascinating to me that moral actions are judged with TikTok scoring points. TikTok and social media can fill the God-shaped hole.
I’m not trying to villainise social media or characters similar to Gabriella Dios, I just hope to offer an invitation for reflection on why we might be turning to these apps and screens and people behind screens instead of the people around us.
Who is your target audience? And what are your hopes for the audience to learn from your show?
You.
Yes, you.
You are my target audience. You are reading this for a reason. It’s a sign to book tickets right now.
But for real, I hope to hold a mirror up to the audience and ask - what’s your dream? Who do you long to become? Have you felt that pain, her yearning, this anger, this loneliness? Have you feared being nothing? Have you prayed for a sign? I hope for audiences to feel less alone, to feel witnessed. I hope that audiences will be reminded of the wonder that life can hold. I also hope (and pray) that audiences will laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh!
(I would recommend the show for anyone aged 14 and over.)
The show is described as “a search for meaning in a success-obsessed society” can you expand on this? and why is this an important topic to be shown on stage today?
It feels as though we are increasingly being encouraged to become more focused on our individual goals and needs and turn inwards. This show is a story about a woman who takes this to the extreme and who burns to become somebody, to be seen as more than her pain, more than who she is. In the age of social media and the need to constantly perform a sense of striving, happiness, gratitude, and intention, there is little room left for the human. We just keep climbing to the top. We are fixated on success. But what if success is not the reason we’re all here? Ultimately, I don’t have the answers but I hope to invite further questioning on the meaning of life…If you figure it out please let me know…
As both writer and performer of the show how do you tackle both sides of the production? Is it hard not to think about one side while working on the other?
I do think the processes do feed each other but having said that I try to keep them pretty separate. In general, I find it’s best when I don’t think haha. Of course I have to think to organise and plan but when I’m actually performing I don’t want to think.
What advice would you give to any writers who maybe don’t know how to start putting their work out there?
The only person whose permission you need is yours. When your work feels ready then share it with one or two people who you trust and who are kind. I’m so grateful to know some very generous souls who have held the work with warmth and kindness. I’d long told myself I couldn’t write because I’m dyslexic (flex) and if it wasn’t for my dear friend Maddie Lynes reading my work and sharing her beautiful work with me and being encouraging and compassionate I don’t know if I would’ve ever started or continued. Find a kind person and make the leap even if it’s scary. Sometimes the scarier the better! It might lead you
somewhere unexpectedly awe-some.
How excited are you for The Fringe?
On a scale of 1-10? Infinity. I feel incredibly lucky to be performing every night for a month, sharing a show that I love and connecting with audiences. It feels like such a gift to be a part of the Universe that is Fringe and collaborating with such a wonderful, inspiring team!
Where can Fringe audiences see the show?
Summerhall, Tech Cube Zero at 7:30pm for the full month of August.
Describe the show in one sentence or three words.
TO FEEL SEEN.
Centre of the Universe plays from 31st of July - 25th August.
Comments