Meet the characters of My Brilliant Career

For the very first time, renowned choreographer Cathy Marston will bring 19th century Australian trailblazer Sybylla Melvyn to the stage for the world première ballet adaptation of My Brilliant Career, as part of our 2023 triple bill Trilogy. 

We spoke with Cathy and Queensland Ballet dancers Mia Heathcote, Laura Tosar and Victor Estévez, to discuss their thoughts about bringing this coming-of-age story to life and portraying characters from the Australian classic novel.  

A feminist when the word did not exist, Sybylla is a girl on the brink of womanhood. Mercurial and complex, she is caught between her romantic nature and her wild, creative heart. Determined that there should be no limit to her horizon, she often finds herself pulled in different directions. For the ballet adaptation, the character of Sybylla Melvyn has been divided into two (Syb and Bylla) to clearly demonstrate both sides of her personality. 

Could you talk about your characters Syb and Bylla, and how they fit into the production?  

Laura: She's a very interesting character. When you read the book or see the movie, you can tell that she's two brains living in one body. She has two major personalities, one that wants to be loved and live a normal life, and the other who is a very rebellious wild spirit, curious and almost careless.  

Mia: She's looking for a bright future and she knows that she can't get that where she is. She wants to be an artist and experience the world. There's a part of her that's very careless about what other people think, so she's very forthright and forward in her views. Yet there's another side of her that is quite fragile and feels hurt by the fact that people might not see her in the way she wants them to see her.  

Laura: It has been interesting trying to be the one person. I've never had that experience in my career, trying to share a body with someone else and [aligning our] movement to how one person would do it. 

Mia: You really have to tap into each other's psyche in order to be the same person, but then understand what your more dominant side is. For example, Laura's side is more brash and determined. She'll get what she wants and is careless. Whereas my side is the Sybylla that is a little more wary of what people think, a more vulnerable side. But then, you have to merge the two into one person. It's quite difficult.  

It will be interesting to see how people receive it, especially having the main character being split into two. But I think Cathy has done an incredible job of making us one person just with two sides of her conscience.  

Syb and Bylla are strong characters, how do you enter the mind space of such a character and how do you relate to them?  

Laura: When we first got told we were working together, we started to dress the same. I was watching you (Mia) a lot. I don't know if you noticed, but even in class I was seeing how you moved, and I'm sure you had the same thing. 

Mia: It also helps when you like the person. I think we have a good working relationship. We have a lot of laughs in the process and like tapping into each other's thoughts. Part of getting into the role is talking to each other about what we might be feeling, then also trying to mesh that so it's not too different. Tapping into strong characters is one of my favourite things to do, reading the book, watching the movie, really getting to know who Sybylla is. Sybylla Melvin as a character was quite forward for her time. I really love that and I'm really excited for us to be able to bring that to the stage. 

What’s your favourite part of being involved in the process of creating My Brilliant Career?  

Laura: The level of creativity you have to bring into the room every day.  

Mia: It's quite a challenge as well. There aren't many times that we have brand new creations to be able to create movement from nothing. One of the things that Cathy did when we first got into the studio was a character breakdown. She gave us a bunch of words for each character and that really helped us to find who we were before we even started any movement. It would organically unfold from there.  

Laura: It's all got to do with Cathy's masterplan. She has this ability of seeing vocabulary and words in movements. She will ask us “how would you say, with that movement?” 

Mia: It's been a whole new world of dance vocabulary. It's been amazing. 

The charming young owner of a nearby estate. Stoic yet playful, Harry befriends Sybylla when he mistakes her for a servant girl picking lemons. Over time a romance sparks between the two, their tempestuous chemistry and his competitive intelligence make Harry an almost perfect match.

How do you enter the mind space of your character and relate to him?  

Well, it's very interesting question. It's a brand-new work so I have no real expectation or anything to look back on. To create this character, I did some research. I read the book, took some notes from the writer about the character and also watched the film.

After doing that, I sat down with Cathy and would share my thoughts on who the character is. We'll have a discussion about it and she will give me ideas, in a way that helps me develop scenes of movement.  

It has allowed me to develop something from the very beginning, which has been incredibly interesting and rewarding to do.

What has been your favourite part of being involved in the process of creating My Brilliant Career?  

Overall, it's being part of something new and such a creative environment where you just have to drive in and be constantly engaged in order for things to flow.  

And working with Cathy - she has such a way of storytelling that it feels very natural to her. I also like the way that she describes to us, it feels like it flows quite well.

It has been an absolute pleasure. Seeing the work evolving from scratch, from a single movement to creating a pas a deux, to creating a big scene, I think that's something very special that we don't get to be part of very often.