Aberdeen at SoHo Playhouse

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2. Aberdeen

And it rains on 1210 East First street, the same miserable rain that fell on him.

And it rains on stinking Aberdeen, on my hero’s origin…

And nature feuds with the broken streets, each burgeoning weed its violence,

And since he didn’t want to speak, I, sopping wet, broke the silence.

“I didn’t know a place could have such f*cking ugly rain.”

I sort of murmured half unconscious, to the ghost of Kurt Cobain.

This is going to sound crazy, but just give me fifty-five minutes to explain,

I am standing in ankle deep water, in Aberdeen, holding hands with Kurt Cobain.

In 1994 the world lost one of its most beloved musicians, grunge icon, Kurt Cobain. Part eulogy, part fantasy, part biography, ‘Aberdeen,’ is an in-the-round conversation between multi award-winning writer, comedian, musician and animator, Cassie Workman with Kurt that takes place across Washington State, including his hometown, of Aberdeen.

Grunge, Life, Death, and Salvation, this striking, original work is performed entirely in rhyming couplets and is a heartbreaking homage to one of our most beloved artists.**

“‘Aberdeen’ began as a nameless writing project in the basement of the Imperial Hotel in Sydney, and soon became a runaway train. I had been working on this project for almost two years when I decided to travel to the United States, to further research Kurt Cobain’s life. I visited the places he lived, and where he died, and I was particularly struck by his hometown, Aberdeen, Washington. Whilst there, I made the highly unorthodox decision to turn everything I had gathered into an epic poem and name it ‘Aberdeen.’ It took months to create the final product, and I had several major depressive episodes during the writing, because of the incredibly dark subject matter. I made no effort at all to protect my own psyche, because I wanted the purest possible depiction of the struggle between life and death. It is a level of artistic rigour that I will probably never subject myself to again. The writing of the show was funded by a generous grant from the City of Sydney, and during a brief lull in covid cases, I was able to preview it, sadly, only twice. I’m delighted but also a little afraid to finally present it to a live audience in a festival environment. I hope you enjoy it.” Cassie Workman

In 2019 Cassie’s universally acclaimed comedy tour-de-force ‘Giantess’ sold out its entire run and was nominated for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award for most outstanding show, the festival's highest accolade.

SCOTSMAN FRINGE FIRST THEATRE AWARD- 2022 WINNER

Phoebe Waller Bridge

“I was captivated from start to finish. Cassie is a phenomenal storyteller. I could practically feel the rain that she conjured. We were lulled by the elegance of her writing and wit into an unforgettable story of raw pain, fury and fragility. It is a howl of a poem. I was floored.”