We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Julia VanderVeen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Julia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I am currently in creation of my second solo show called “Dentata.” It is about female ferocity, rage and pleasure. I got the idea last summer but I soon realized that the idea had actually been calling to me for a few years. A year or so ago, I yelled at some male collaborators for not holding space for the women in the room, and something broke free in me. I realized how angry I was and how tired I was of swallowing that anger. As soon as I got the idea to make a solo show about misunderstood mythical female characters throughout history, or “Dentata”, the show has been knocking inside of me and begging to be made. I couldn’t wait to get it out of me and onto the stage. Cindy Sherman’s work was also a big inspiration for me. I wanted every character I played to be as completely different as possible. I use puppets and other textiles to incorporate beautiful and dreamlike visual aspects into the show as well.

Julia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my journey as a Music Theatre performer and then fell madly in love with physical comedy. Physical comedy is different than traditional theatre because it invites the audience in due to the fact that there is no fourth wall, and you are playing and reacting off the audience that is there. I first discovered physical comedy because my husband was a participant in the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab and the focus that particular summer was on comedy. A professor of physical comedy taught the directors and my husband told me, “Julia, I think you would absolutely love this work.” I took a workshop and he was right. I fell madly in love with the work. It became all I wanted to do.

A few short years later, I apprenticed to be a clown teacher under that very professor that taught my husband: Chris Bayes at Yale University, where he is the Head of Physical Acting. Now I coach and direct people who are building solo shows and who are interested in discovering their own particular way of being funny.

My first solo show, “My Grandmother’s Eyepatch” was featured at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the NY Times, where it received rave ***** reviews. The show also sold out at the NY Comedy Festival last fall.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

We are all born unique, with a very unique voice. When I stepped out of strictly acting and began to write and create my own work, it was exhilarating. I felt that I took my career into my hands. I am more myself every day because I nurture my creative voice, say yes to myself, and also help others to nurture and find their own creative voices.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think creatives are more open to the questions, when non-creatives need to know the answers. Creatives live in the in between places: the nuance, the gray area. It is not comfortable and it requires a lot of faith to live there, but I have discovered that safety is an illusion anyway. Doing what you want and listening to your inner calling I believe is the most fulfilling thing one could do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://juliavanderveen.com
• Instagram: julesvandie
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@juliavanderveen3897

Image Credits

Ambe J, Callie Lipatore, Hans Meyer