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Black, Fat and F**gy: Actor and comedian Milo Hartill on her one-woman cabaret

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE ARTS AND CULTURE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SULLY ENAYATZADA
WORDS BY MARYEL SOUSA

“It’s who I am – I’m happy, and I want to make everybody laugh and cry with me.”

Milo Hartill is magnetic – fearless, talented and undeniably beautiful. Within thirty seconds of meeting, she’s already joking with me about decolonising her predominantly white neighbourhood by going to the shops in booty shorts and a crop top. The mere sight of her should be enough to give pearl-clutching onlookers a jolt, she tells me.

It’s only a half-joke. We live in a polarised political climate. To some, Milo’s existence as a member of (several) marginalised communities seems inherently radical. But Milo wants you to see her as a person, just like anyone else. She’s faced struggle, of course, but along with that has come a passion for story-telling and a community that loves her.


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In Black, Fat and F**gy, Milo’s upcoming one-woman show with UMACm she explores the experiences that have shaped her through story and song and invites you to laugh and cry along with her. By the end, she hopes, you’ll realise that being black, fat and f**gy isn’t so different after all. 

Maryel Sousa: Milo, could you tell me a bit about the process of writing the show? I’d love to hear more about what inspired you. 

Milo Hartill: I was doing lots of auditions for musicals, getting to the final round and not getting the role. I didn’t know what more I could do. The whole tortured actor thing. My final audition was pretty lengthy – I think I was in the room three or four times across several weeks. The day I did my last call back, the production company for that show put out a press release essentially saying that they couldn’t find any talented black people in Australia. And I was like, “Where is the space for me? Do I just quit?”

Then, the gorgeous director of my show, Robin Goldsworthy, called me seemingly out of the blue with Andrew Henry, the producer. It was serendipitous. They were like, “We think you should have a one-woman cabaret.” That’s how it came about. We were talking about what we were going to do, and I was essentially like, “I just want to talk about being a black, fat f*g.” And now that’s the name of the show. 

 

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I was actually going to ask about the title – I love the bold approach you took with it. Too often, we hear stories about people from marginalised backgrounds feeling pressured to make their lived experiences more palatable for others. How would you like this show to shift conversations about identity in Australian arts? 

Well, it’s been very funny. I did an interview that included the title of the show, and it went viral (derogatory). A bunch of people were just being like, “All these people want to do is make us listen to them complain about being black, fat and f**gy.” 

‘Black, fat and f**gy’ is only an insult because so many people perceive it to be. But black, fat and f**gy is just who I am – I’m happy, and I want to make everybody laugh and cry with me. I want people to take away empathy from the show. A lot of fucked up things have happened to me, and I make jokes out of them. I’m not very serious, but I am talking about some pretty serious stuff amongst the jokes. I want people to know that all these bad things may happen to me, but I can still come to you with a show and just be a person like everybody else.

I chose to name the show so “provocatively” because I want people to come in and realise that it’s not really provocative. It only seems that way because of people’s assumptions about who I am and what I’m going to say based on those identity markers. 

Totally. It sounds like you’re sharing so much of yourself with an audience which must feel both empowering and vulnerable. How have you been taking care of yourself, and how do people in your life support you? 

Sharing a lot of yourself can have the potential to be draining, but telling stories is something that empowers and energises me. Since I wrote the script, I get to choose what’s included and what isn’t. I toyed with including other things about myself, but I don’t think I could tell those stories and be okay.

And I’m so lucky. My partner is so good to me, cooking me dinner every night while I tell jokes to myself in the reflection of the window. Everyone in my life is truly so good to me. That’s a big part of the show for me, too – the community that I get to have because I’m black, fat and f**gy. I’m so proud of that and the joy it gives me. 

 

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You have such an amazing support system! On a lighter note, your show blends cabaret, song cycle, influencer takeover, and critique of the Australian theatre scene. Without spoiling too much, how do these elements work together to share your story? 

It’s very much a representation of myself. I feel like that’s how I exist in the world, randomly singing things and making my point through jokes. At the end of the day, that’s what the whole purpose is for me – to sing to myself, sing with other people, and make people roll over laughing. I integrate all of that together in the show. Everything’s better with an eight count. Everything’s better with a bit of musical accompaniment.

Well, you have been called a ‘terrifying talent’, so I look forward to experiencing that. Last question: After you finish with the show, what’s next? 

Well, I’ve got lots of exciting things planned over the next few months. Not a lot that I’m allowed to talk about yet, but I will be hosting Victoria’s Pride Street Party on Smith Street the day after my show closes, and then I will be doing Mardi Gras. So, people can catch me up in Sydney, hosting a bunch of different parties, singing and taking my clothes off. And they can also find me and everything I’m doing on my Instagram

To see Milo Hartill live on stage in Black, Fat and F**gy in Melbourne, secure your ticket here.

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