Mummy’s Plastic continues to spread their gospel via chaotic, pun-riddled takedowns of our most hallowed so-called Australian institutions with their upcoming Easter themed show, Hot Cross Critters. Elijah Bartholomew, of Mummy’s Plastic and House of BOK, spent a few minutes answering our questions from their bathtub about this sacred and profane spectacle that’s taking over the Rechabite main hall with puppets, drag, a live band, an Easter bonnet parade and probably a choc-tonne more to be revealed on the night.
What’s so good about Good Friday?
Good Friday was always hospo staff party day, so something incredible to look forward to, also a fun reminder that there are fish n chip joints in your area that need love, it’s like an annual Save the Bird but for dim sim dealers.
Hot Cross Critters is described as a “nu-Aussie folklore meets absurdist fever dream” with comedy, puppets, and a live band. I have a vague idea of what that could be, but I’d feel better if you could break down what nu-Aussie folklore is. I’m not from here.
Nu-aussie is a post Rolf Harris reclamation of Australiana symbology, hotter and most importantly newer, a re-awakening for the iPad baby brain generations with current lingo like “Choc The?”, “Flock Off!” and “Beatty Parkussy!” – coercion meets immersion.
This isn’t your standard Easter story; there are themes of colonisation, capitalism, and eco-terrorism woven through the chaos. How much would Peter Dutton and Gina Rinehart hate the show?
Okay so lemme put it this way: If there were jars out the front door of the show for them to put bottle caps into for whichever cast member they enjoyed the most in the vein of the Grill’d fundraiser schtick, they’d both clink the bottle caps together in a cheersing motion and opt to swallow them like that obese guy in SE7EN who was fed the metal shavings, because truthfully they would rather internally bleed than give this show any props.
The show features an Easter Bonnet Parade and prize for best dressed. What makes a good easter bonnet?
A good Easter bonnet should have a secret. Once in primary school my brother was trotting along in the Easter hat parade in a regular degular green cap with something loosely fastened to the front of it. Most of the other kids having something a bit more lavish or extravagant on – purpose built, you know? Well as he was bouncing along, the loose Easter themed fixture became completely unfixed and fell to the road, revealing beneath it was a giant VB symbol. He continued to parade about not knowing his shame. Some people get on it young.
Would you say Hot Cross Critters is a sequel to last year’s HALLELIJAH! just like Easter is the sequel to Christmas? Or is it more of a spiritual spin-off?
I like these questions. In my heartsoul, I feel (whilst done to death at the moment) this is multiversal. I don’t see Platypussy and the chocolate world in the same exact universe as Hallelijah, but I see it paralleled. There’s got to be a Hallelijam-Doughnut out there somewhere that this story shares a limelight timeline with.
HALLELIJAH! saw you playing Christ in a panto? What was it like to take on such an iconic role and will you be reprising it for Critters?
So I liked my name as a pun. Then it got bigger than Ben She/Hur. As a messianic figure, there’s a lot of pressure, I think mostly from within, because really people aren’t expecting much from this aged out twink and redhead combo. What I DIG about this script is there are more sides to the story, we’ve taken more freedoms with the text (the nutrients label on a Fry’s Turkish Delight), so it feels less conceited and much hotter. Hallelijah was hot though, did you see me get BIRTHED?
Your collaboration with Rose KB has resulted in some unforgettable performances. How did the two of you start working together?
Rose was the booking agent at the Bird when my crew wanted to run our first ever event in 2017 (spaceBOK). From that moment we have partied together on and off, which really is one of the best basissies for a fun friendship. We do alright. I’d hit Hotel Northbridge Groove Karaoke (shout out Harold and Karen) on a Friday night for $9 Nail Red Ale pints and some crazy singing before the controversies. She’d be there too. Rose invited me to help out at a karaoke gig and then things kept going from there. Got me into stand up. Really actually been there creatively for so many huge leaps in my life and my tears are typing the rest of this out for me now because we barely slow down enough to tell each other how much we love each other. Rose, if you’re reading this, I love you and I’m not afraid to pay it? Earnesty International 2025. Now here we are doing shows.
How do you create these chaotic shows – how do you work out what’s going to work?
Okay, you want to know the secret sauce? Well honey you gotta pay me aha. But this interview is payment in exposure, so you got me there. Our process from concept to stage is really evident in how we begin. We hit up Johnny Foxes for some curry chips and pints and get our notebooks out together on a Thursday generally (cos karaoke comes on later). Just riff until the sun goes down – puns, jokes, race relations, just shart all of these ideas onto paper and I do mean physical paper. Ink on page is where the flow state hits max velocity. From there we actually sometimes try to form entire scenes around just one terrible joke, but we actually begin with jokes and through threading the jokes together try to form a narrative. We’ll return to pages of drunkenly scribbled hot takes and try to make sense of them later on when we get into story mode. That’s why the stories can be kind of strange to follow, but it has a flavour that you cannot beat and maybe struggle to describe beyond “cooked” (which is nu-Aussie for fucked).
You’ve recently taken the leap into full-time freelance artistry. Congratulations! What’s helped you make that decision?
ROSE AND OLJA! My two party queens. Whilst Rose has coached me through a lot of creative endeavours and waxed the tarmac for my middling internal success, Olja has also continuously gently accosted me for working at a bank. “You don’t belong in a bank, I miss when you were a dishpig, you seemed so much happier” – and I was. In my humble opinion I am the best dishpig that has ever pigged. I love doing this dumb stuff and I don’t need KPIs or HR scoldings to hold me back from the life I am destined for! I’d also like to shout out my parents for letting me stay for free 3 hours away in Cranbrook in exchange for helping do up their little house with them. Full-time job AND arts and running karaoke gigs / parties? I don’t think.
Aside from your projects with Mummy’s Plastic, you have House of BOK. Can you tell us what that’s all about – how it’s evolved, what you’ve got planned coming up?
Okay so truthfully it’s kind of devolved of late. I cannot hack this work/life/gigs balance. But now I don’t have to! BOK did evolve though from getting booked to dance at raves and club nights, to doing our own club night after a very timely public Facebook rant about Din Daa Daa (I apologise but it was also funny as hell and I still laugh about it) and also seeing we wanted a space for dumb gay parties which were maybe more irregular just at the time we began. I feel like Leg Day was the only thing happening semi frequently in 2017 (and we want it back). We did a lot of crossovers in the before COVID times, fewer now. But with nothing in my way now, it’s pedal to the metal baby!
If you want to continue to evolve and/or devolve with Elijah, Rose KB et al. at the Rechabite this Good Friday April 18 from 7:30pm, go get your tix for Hot Cross Critters here.
