I’M READY TO TALK NOW
Set inside of a hospital room, audiences experience the work one at a time, alone with the artist, as he tells the story of being diagnosed with a rare, severe and chronic immune condition - in his very first year of starting testosterone.
Through music, projection, and physical theatre, this radical act of connection blurs the lines between audience and performer, theatre and installation art, and stands boldly outside of ordinary theatrical conventions. With access as its core guiding principle, each performance can be spontaneously altered: offering relaxed performances, tactile tours, audio description and closed captions on demand.
Audience members can leave the space at any time.
an experimental one-on-one piece exploring chronic illness and identity
★★★★★
’Through projections that would look just as at-home in a gallery as in a theatre, I come to better understand the liminal isolation of an extended hospital stay. Via creative and intricate physical theatre, lighting and in-headphone narration, Ayres crafts a devastatingly emotional encounter that lifts the curtain on his experience as a disabled, trans theatre-maker, reorienting a tiny corner of Trades Hall into a slice of pure loneliness…In its newly expanded form, this immersive experience cements Ayres as a forward thinking creative to watch.’
- TimeOut
★★★★★
’Some of the loneliest and most heartful theatre I have ever witnessed, it was a privilege to meet an artist who was not only so intentional with his craft but also with having me there alongside him while he shared his story. Long after our hug goodbye, I still miss him.’
- A Youngish Perspective
★★★★
'To say too much would be to spoil a piece that’s masterful in saying just enough. But the thoughtfulness that has gone into looking after the audience, with accessibility woven into the experience as one of its many building blocks, creates the feeling of having a bespoke gem of a play personally designed for you…it quietly destroys the roles that we might move between – critic, performer, patient, carer, male, female – and also calls for more compassion between us all while exemplifying what this can look like in practice.’
- The Scotsman
★★★★
’…brief, fragile but hugely powerful…Disarmingly intimate and unavoidably involving, I’m Ready to Talk Now is a gently whirring empathy machine, one whose idiosyncratic form matches its compassionate message.’
- The Arts Desk
★★★★
'Extraordinarily atmospheric’
- Mickey Jo Theatre
★★★★
’The power of Ayres’ show is in his pauses for reflection on illness, care and grief, making sure it’s a place both for Ayres to talk and his audience to think.’
- Fest Mag
‘This is a performance made with such care even as it tells of a medical system that failed him and blamed him for his illness. Ayres wasn’t always looked after as he should have been, so he ensures that we are. He has a gift for paying attention.’
- Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor
‘…you cannot look away from the story.’
- The Guardian
‘…a meditative 30 minutes as Ayres reflects on his diagnosis with a disarming honesty paired with graceful physical theatre…a technically impressive experiment into a way of relating to audiences that elevates Ayres’ vulnerability until it thrums with fragility and power in equal measure.’
- The Age
‘There are shades of The Artist is Present in that final moment of connection. The world that Ayres creates and shares is at turns healing and startling, but his stewardship and care throughout is really felt. I‘m glad he shared this moment with me, and I’m glad I was present to receive it.’
- Ryan Hamilton
‘…a clever feat of minimalism and invisible precision.’
- The Skinny
‘This is such a difficult performance to describe properly. Everything that works does so because it is meticulously crafted, and many of the techniques are so subtle. If I described it in the best way possible and someone else came in to replicate it, the show would likely fail. I’m Ready to Talk Now is the sort of audio-visual feat that might be better suited to the NGV than Fringe, will be difficult for many to experience, and worth taking the risk on.’
-Theatre Travels
'Creating art requires a level of vulnerability and openness, and with I’m Ready To Talk Now, Ayres has found a beautifully gentle but honest expression of doing so which results in a unique experience for his audience.’
-My Melbourne Arts
AWARDS
2023
Best Experimental Work (Melbourne Fringe) - Nominated
2024
Best Experimental Work (Melbourne Fringe) - Winner
Best Work By An Emerging Artist (Melbourne Fringe) - Nominated
Change Maker Award (Melbourne Fringe and Theatre Network Australia) - Winner
creative team 2023
Performed and Created by: Oliver Ayres
Designer: Gabriel Bethune
Producer: SKINT
Dramaturg: Penny Baron
creative team 2024
Performed and Created by: Oliver Ayres
Sound and Set Design: Rachel ‘Stoz’ Stone
Lighting and AV Design: Isabella ‘Iz’ Zettl
Producer: SKINT
Dramaturg and Choreographer: Penny Baron
creative team 2025
Performed and Created by: Oliver Ayres
Sound and Set Design: Rachel ‘Stoz’ Stone
Lighting and AV Design: Isabella ‘Iz’ Zettl
Producer: SKINT
Touring Producer: QuietRIOT
Dramaturg and Choreographer: Penny Baron
2019
Discord Festival, Victorian College of the Arts, VIC, Australia
2023
Melbourne Fringe Festival (Fringe Hub), VIC, Australia
2024
FUSE Festival (Darebin City Council), VIC, Australia
Melbourne Fringe Festival (Fringe Hub), VIC, Australia
2025
Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Traverse Theatre), Edinburgh, UK
TOURING HISTORY
‘Beautiful, vulnerable and intimate.’
‘Impossible to describe. Achingly beautiful and vulnerable. Changed the way I think about storytelling.’
‘A beautiful and complete moment of theatre. I don’t know that I have ever experienced anything quite like it.’
‘It didn’t matter that I was an audience of one: Oliver transported me out of that small space and into a world of inspiration, peace and beauty.’
‘I felt invited into the center of Oliver’s grief and catharsis and was deeply moved by the experience.’
‘Such an honest performance, and so well crafted - Oliver Ayres has a future in this performance medium.’
‘It was just absolutely beautiful, really stunning, very very spiritual and strong vibes and I feel really blessed and happy to seen it.’
‘I felt connected. Seen. Visible. Care. Terror. Awe. Warmth. Hope. Optimism…Oliver is a genius and you should follow his work closely.’
‘Oliver has created something so transportative, managing to say so much in so little time. It’s not something that I can honestly capture in words. It’s a window into him, but it’s also a window into you. Ollie’s presence in the room is like being held.’
AUDIENCE TESTIMONIALS
‘What an honour to experience Ollie’s work, where every little detail is designed with intention and purpose.’
‘I will be thinking about this show for the rest of my life. Thoughtfully, lovingly, painfully, beautifully created.’
‘Ollie has created a masterful, unique piece that was truly a privilege to experience as a disabled, chronically ill theatre goer.’
‘Uniquely crafted and expressed, a show that’s as much about art making as it is the self.’
‘Ollie ushered me through an intimate journey of the intersections between disability, chronic illness, transition and complex identities. Brilliant.’
‘Powerful and honest!’
‘Everyone should see this. Everyone. A beautiful, safe space created by Ollie from start to finish. Truly a life-altering experience’
‘Oliver's work is so deeply human that, in the right moments, it crosses over to godliness.’
‘Such a thought provoking work exploring shared humanity and experiences of loss, grief and hope.’